Firefly Effect
by Der Traumer
Summary: There was a very simple solution to this heir decision: kill off one. Unfortunately, it's not as bloodless a solution as it was intended to be. Important note: NOT YashamaruOFC, despite first appearences.
1. Warm Rain

A/N: Actually, I don't have much to say about this piece right now. It's a bit of an... odd? off beat? idea. Please give it a chance, and I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Basilisk and its cast (as gorgeous as they are) are not mine

Claimer: Amaya, her parents, Takumi, and a good amount of the plot concept for this story are mine. If I should invent another originol character throughout the course of the piece, I'll let you know.

Warnings (chapter by chapter): mild language, implied drug abuse

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**Firefly Effect**  
**Warm Rain**

Amaya was startled when she felt someone grab her arm; she was just outside the gates of Sunpu Castle, still clearly in view of the guards. Instinctively, she released the catch holding the short throwing knife in her right sleeve, dropped the woven basket that had been slung over her left arm, and whipped around to press the knife to her assailant's throat. "Son of bitch, I'll teach you to…" She trailed when she realized the man hadn't fought back and was instead staring at her with large, confused, dark blue eyes.

When it became apparent to Yashamaru that the girl was simply going to stare at him with a knife pressed against his throat, he gently reached up and took her right wrist in his hand to lift it away from his neck. The girl didn't resist. "I'm sorry to have startled you," he told her with a bit of a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.

Amaya tugged her hand free from the man's loose grip and tucked the knife back into it's sheath, hidden beneath the sleeve of her kimono. She snorted. "You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that. I could have killed you." She was adjusting her kimono sleeve to make sure it fully covered the knife sheath.

Yashamaru laughed. Somehow, he doubted that, but he didn't feel it necessary to inform the small female of the fact. She glared up at him, catching the definite meaning behind his snickering anyway, and Yashamaru was forced to put his hands up in defeat, else he lose his guide to food.

"So, did you have any reason for stopping me? Or can be on my way?" she asked as she bent to pick up the basket she dropped. Not one to miss an opportunity, Yashamaru bent to pick up the basket first, offering it back to the girl with irresistible smile.

Amaya grinned just a little and shook her head and reached to take her basket back.

Yashamaru held it just out of reach.

"You ass!" she snarled and made a desperate snatch at the basket.

Yashamaru laughed again and danced back a few steps, just out of reach of the girls flailing arms. He was even kind enough to catch her with his free arm when she stumbled over a buckled cobblestone in her attempt. Now with the girl in one arm and her basket in the other, Yashamaru could do nothing but grin, a facial expression which faltered when he became aware of her reaching to unhook her knife again.

"No need for that, I assure you, my dear," he informed her gentlemanly as he hoisted her back onto her feet with one arm. "I have every intention of returning this – " he lifted the basket in an absent gesture, " – as soon as you take me somewhere that I can find food." As if to reiterate his point, his stomach growled irritably at him.

Once again, he had left his captive staring dumbly at him. "Are you serious?" she finally managed to sputter.

Yashamaru hung his head and nodded solemnly.

Amaya took advantage of this and snatched the basket off his arm. Yashamaru was briefly afraid that he had lost his best opportunity to find food, but the girl just sighed and shook her head. "You could have just asked, you know. I was already on my way into town."

Yashamaru's eyes gleamed. "Thank you so much!"

Amaya just rolled her eyes and turned back to walk in the direction she had been going. It took Yashamaru a moment to realize she expected him to follow before he darted to catch up with her in the bustling crowds shuffling along the main street. "I'm Yashamaru," he introduced with another smile as soon as he was shoulder to shoulder with her, well, elbow to shoulder maybe.

The girl seemed to think a moment before finally turning her face up to look at him. "Amaya," she informed him.

Yashamaru grinned down at her. "Nice to meet you, Amaya-san."

Amaya afforded him a small smirk, hidden daintily behind her sleeve, and a shake of her head. His grin, if anything, grew a little bit wider.

They walked a little ways in silence except for the occasional apology when one would brush into the other due to the tight press of bodies on the street before Amaya felt the need to question Yashamaru. "So, you're obviously not from around here," she tilted her head to look at him while she was talking. "Where are you from?"

"Tsubagakure," he answered, looking down to meet her stare, never having been one to not look at someone when he was talking to them.

Amaya's eyebrows rose a little in barely contained surprise. "That's the Iga stronghold, am I right?"

Yashamaru's eyes flashed, and he smiled proudly. "It is."

"So," Amaya skipped ahead of him a ways so she could turn look straight at him while walking backwards, "Does that make you an Iga ninja?"

Yashamaru's smiles just kept getting broader and broader. "It does." He was waiting for Amaya to appear impressed as compared to curious.

"Hmm," she appeared to be thinking in an exaggerated disinterested manner. "What's an Iga ninja doing all the way in Sunpu?" she finally asked.

"I'm here with Ogen-sama."

Amaya stopped and put her hands on her hips to peer up at him. "That doesn't really answer the question," she informed him.

Yashamaru found himself realizing she was right and reached up to scratch his head. "Actually, I don't really know why Ogen-sama brought me here with her. I haven't heard from her at all since she went to talk to Shogun Ieyasu."

There was a definite glint of disbelief in Amaya's eyes just before she turned around and started walking again, forcing him to dodge by several people so he was side by side with her. "What?" he asked, tone slightly childish.

Amaya giggled and looked up at him with laughing eyes before shaking her head. "Oh, nothing."

"Hey! You don't believe me do you?"

"I never said that," she answered, voice dripping playful sarcasm, just before she disappeared through a curtained shop door. Not expecting the maneuver, he ducked in after her just in time to watch the swish of another curtain she must have slipped past. He moved to follow her, but a large man stepped in his way, obviously not intending to let him past.

"Uhm… Amaya-san!" he shouted over the much larger man's shoulder, "I don't suppose you're bringing back food, are you?" Yashamaru shied away from the large figure's irritated glare.

He heard an exasperated sigh, and Amaya ducked out past the curtain and around the guard. "Can you not find food for yourself?" Her basket was gone, which allowed her to more easily place both hands on her hips when berating him. "You're in the middle of town; there are a dozen places for you to eat at. Shoo!"

Yashamaru stared at her blankly.

Amaya rolled her eyes. "If you really want, you can meet me at the little sushi stand two shops down, but I'm going to be a while here."

Yashamaru continued to stare.

"Unless you really plan to eat medicinal herbs, I suggest you leave." She glared at him to further emphasize the point.

"Oh, right." Yashamaru pivoted on his heel and left.

Amaya's shoulders slumped and she sighed heavily, wondering why she had bothered to drag the gorgeous blue eyed, black haired "ninja" around, and in that thought she found her answer, which only caused her to sigh a little more heavily.

"Is that your lover, Amaya-kun?" a voice that was slightly ragged with age crooned from within the curtained room.

Amaya rolled her eyes, absently wondering if they could get stuck that way, and lifted the curtain to the side to let herself back in. "Shut up, Takumi-san," she snapped half-heartedly at the old man, who sniggered at the lack of answer the order provided.

"So, what does your dearest mother need from me today?" he asked.

Amaya reached into the neck of her kimono and struggled to withdraw the list from the binding around her breasts, then handed it to Takumi. His eyebrows went up in a slightly startled expression. "What in the world does your mother want with all these for?"

"Probably to kill my father," Amaya answered absently as she browsed the labeled jars and pots of imported or illegal plants.

"What?!" Takumi blurted.

Amaya sighed. "Jiro," she clarified.

This caused the old man to giggle, "Of course." He reached up and snapped a branch off the nearest plant, wrapped it in paper, tied a string around it, and scrawled a barely legible label on it. He piled several more similar packages into Amaya's basket. "Tell your mother I'm sorry, but I'm completely out of Rosary Peas, and that it will take time to get a hold of golden chain or foxglove. I'm also missing a few of the mushrooms she wanted. What in the world is she doing, though? Going into the drug business?"

Amaya shrugged. "Wouldn't put it past her."

Takumi rolled his eyes. "Am I to assume she needs her standard amounts of blue lettuce and honeysuckle, too, for Shogun Ieyasu?"

"Oh yes! Of course!" Amaya blurted, realizing she had nearly forgotten her mother's standard order along with the list of special requests.

Takumi added large a bag of blue lettuce and ducked out briefly to fetch the honeysuckle, the only non illegal or imported substance in Amaya's order. As he scrawled out the total cost of the extensive purchase, he chatted amiably with Amaya. "So how is that belladonna Akane-san is growing coming along?"

Amaya laughed. Her mother wasn't nearly as good at growing plants as she was mixing and mashing them, but she had insisted she have her own nightshade plant because she found uses for its parts so often. "It's not dead yet," she answered with a grin.

"This might be a record for her," Takumi teased, "A whole two months." He abruptly changed subjects to inform Amaya of the final cost.

"She's lucky Ieyasu likes her," Amaya rolled her eyes and dug the necessary number of bills out of her obi, "Or she could never afford orders like this."

Takumi just clicked his tongue. "It's what that bastard Shogun gets for sleeping with his doctor's wife. He's got to pay her to keep hush hush about it."

"Mhmm," Amaya nodded in uncaring agreement; she preferred not to talk about her mother's trysts with the Shogun. Takumi handed her several bills in change. "Good bye, Takumi-san. I'll probably see you next week, if not sooner." She turned to leave the shop.

Takumi waved good bye after her. "Tell Akane-san that I hope she's doing well."

Amaya nodded slightly just before she disappeared through the curtained door.

She was startled when she sat down at the sushi stand and someone greeted her. "I was beginning to wonder if you were coming, Amaya-san," a bright voice chimed.

She turned just slightly to find herself staring into familiar dark blue eyes. "Yashamaru…" she trailed. She'd almost forgotten she'd offered to meet him here at all, and she realized, also, that she never really expected him to anyway.

"So, did you get anything interesting?" He reached to lift the cloth that was draped over the basket's contents, only to have his hand smacked away and the basket lifted and replaced on Amaya's other side.

"No, not really," she answered, and turned toward the chef that was waiting to take her order. "Two kani… uhm, two amaebi, and… do you have any temaki?" [1

The chef nodded.

"Two of those, too, please." She leaned her elbow on the counter and leaned her cheek on her palm so she could look at Yashamaru. "Well, did you find anything to eat?"

He nodded with a large smile.

"That's good. I was half afraid you were going to tell me you needed money, too."

Yashamaru gave her look of exaggerated astonishment, as though he was offended by the mere suggestion that he would expect to borrow money from her, and appeared to want to say something to that point, but the sushi chef reappeared with an ornate rectangular tray with Amaya's sushi on it. She thanked him pleasantly before picking up her chop sticks and daintily lifting a piece of sushi to her mouth, delicately biting off a piece. She was aware of Yashamaru's stare through the entire piece of food, and it was rather distracting. Slightly annoyed, she set down her chopsticks and turned to face him. "What?" she demanded.

Yashamaru immediately looked away. "Nothing. I'm sorry. It just looks really good."

Amaya blinked at him. "Then order some for yourself, maybe?" she offered.

Yashamaru flashed her a sheepish grin. "Well, I'm kind of out of money."

Amaya rolled her eyes (they were definitely going to get stuck like that if she kept this up) and extracted several coins and bills from the folds of her obi, then handed them to him.

"No, no, no…" he immediately began to protest, which earned him an exasperated sigh from Amaya.

"Just take it," she snapped, though without much force behind it, "It's not like its my money, and there's definitely more where that came from."

Yashamaru just barely resisted questioning the statement before turning to order his own meal from the sushi chef.

They ate mostly in silence, though there was a brief break for conversation when Amaya pointed out the speed at which Yashamaru had inhaled his food. To which he felt the need to inform Amaya that she ate her own meal much too slowly. Notably, Amaya just ignored him and continued to nibble her food. When she finished, Yashamaru was still there and still staring at her silently. "What?" she asked again, pretty or not, Yashamaru's presence was starting to grate heavily on her nerves.

He just shrugged and turned to stare up at the menu above their heads.

"Oh, like I'm supposed to believe that. If you're still hungry just say so," the tone came out less than inviting and she felt momentarily bad. Amaya inhaled deeply, calming herself. "Seriously, it wouldn't be a problem."

"No, it's not that," he answered, voice sounding a tad solemn, staring down at the counter now.

Amaya bit her lip and craned her head a little to look him in the face, nearly having to rest her head on the counter to do so. "What is it then?"

Another sheepish, slightly tinged with guilt grin was her answer. "I don't remember how to get back to Sunpu Castle," he stammered out as quickly as he could.

A fit of giggles from the girl sitting next to him was the response he got, and it took Amaya several minutes to calm down enough to speak. "So you were just going to follow me home?"

Yashamaru nodded.

"And you thought I was going to believe you were a ninja?"

Yashamaru snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine then, I _will_ find my own way home."

Amaya was startled to find that she was actually disappointed by the idea and sighed. "You don't have to do that, I guess. I wouldn't mind the company."

Yashamaru looked at her clean sushi tray, not a grain of rice, nor fleck of seaweed left on it, then back up at Amaya's face. "So, are we ready to go?"

Amaya quirked an eyebrow up at him. "Who said I was going home?" She thanked the sushi chef one more time as she stood and smoothed down her kimono, which was slightly rumpled from sitting so long. She pointedly picked up her basket off the stool she had sat it on before Yashamaru even had a chance to reach for it.

He glanced skyward at the clouds which were taking on hues of pink and orange with the oncoming sunset. "Uhm… If we're not going home, where are we going?" he asked curiously.

Amaya batted her eyelashes at him playfully and started walked away. "Just someplace I like to spend a lot of time," she answered with a shrug. He found himself watching the slight sway of her hips intently as she walked, trying to decide if the motion was intentional before realizing that she would leave him behind at the sushi stand if he didn't hurry to catch up.

Yashamaru was starting to wonder if he really should have found his own way home as they left the populated area entirely and began to travel on a well warn dirt path. He was just about to inquire as to their destination again when Amaya plopped down without any grace or poise whatsoever in the grass. Yashamaru followed her gaze and saw the dark orange of the setting sun twinkling over the Abekawa River. "It's pretty here," she remarked absently as he sat down beside her. "And it's relaxing, so much quieter than the city and so much more tranquil than Sunpu Castle."

"Definitely," Yashamaru agreed, stretching one leg out in front of him and bending the other up toward him so he could drape his arms over the knee.

He was startled when Amaya suddenly stretched her arms out and fell onto her back, seemingly unaware of the amount of the leg that was now visible around the skirt of her kimono which had hiked up above her bent knees and pooled around her thighs. Yashamaru blushed and looked away. The change of scenery appeared to have a profound effect on the girl splayed on the grass next to him with her eyes closed and a lazy smile on her face. "So," Amaya cracked an eye open at him, "Are you _really_ an Iga ninja?"

"I am," he answered definitively.

"An Iga ninja who doesn't know why he's in Sunpu and can't get from Sunpu Castle to the center of town and back? You are certainly a very strange ninja, Yashamaru."

At this he raised an eyebrow at her. "And you are not strange?"

Amaya made a face at him. "What's strange about me?" she asked incredulously.

Yashamaru put his first finger to his chin and tilted his head back in a exaggerated thinking expression. "You have throwing knives in the sleeves of your kimono."

Amaya shrugged. "A girl can never be too careful."

"You have a basket of things from an herb shop that I wasn't allowed to enter and that you won't let me see."

"Well, it's none of your business." By now, Amaya had sat back up, and she cast an innocent glance at Yashamaru over her shoulder.

"And apparently, you have an unending supply of cash, which is the strangest thing of all as you appear to be a Sunpu Castle errand girl."

Amaya's eyes went wide at this observation. "What kind of errand girl owns a kimono like this?" she demanded, gesturing with one hand at the dark red fabric and navy blue obi.

"Well, then, if you're not an errand girl, who are you?"

She snorted at him, crossed her arms over her chest, and stuck her nose in the air. "Why should I tell you that?" She was easily maintaining an air of condesation, but her insides were churning. Her exact place in Castle Sunpu was a little hard to explain.

Yashamaru took advantage of Amaya's posture and slipped his hand under the cloth of her basket and yanked out the top most package. Amaya heard the rustling of paper too late to stop him.

"Blue lettuce?" he read the label out loud, "Isn't this stuff…"

He didn't have time to finish because quite suddenly he found himself underneath Amaya with her knife at his throat for the second time today. "Give me that back, and I might not kill you," she growled, pressing the knife hard enough that it drew a faint line of blood.

That was enough of a serious threat for Yashamaru to take action, and in half the time it had taken Amaya to pin him, her knife was knocked from her hand and her wrists were bound by his Gokujou. She was staring at him with frightened, teary eyes, clearly not having expected any kind of retaliation on his part at all. "Now, I'm really sorry about that," he said earnestly, wiping the blood from his throat with one hand, "But I really don't appreciate blood letting, if you know what I mean." He carefully retracted the threads, slowly so that if Amaya jerked away she wouldn't slice herself on one.

"Who… who are you?" she stammered.

"Yashamaru, of the Iga ninja. I thought we went over that and were talking about who you were."

She was examining her wrists closely, checking to make sure they weren't injured, though she never took both eyes off him.

"Amaya-san, I really didn't mean to scare you. Are your hands okay?" He gently took her forearms in his hands and turned them slightly to check for injuries, though knowing he wouldn't find any. "You look okay to me," he declared with a warm smile.

There was no warmth in the glare he received as Amaya continued to rub her forearms, then reached for the mishandled bag of blue lettuce. Yashamaru's hand closed on it first and Amaya immediately jerked hers back. "We're not really going to play this game again are we?" she asked irritably, though her voice was noticeably smaller then before.

Yashamaru almost debated the idea, then offered the bag back as a peace offering. "That stuff doesn't grow around here, I thought," he stated conversationally as Amaya tucked it back into the basket.

"It doesn't," she answered.

"I bet it's expensive."

"It is."

"You're really not going to tell me who you are, are you?"

Amaya started at the sudden frankness of the question, then sighed. "I guess it's only fair…" she trailed, "Since you told me who you were." She stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned back on her hands, staring up at the dark purple sky with its fading red and orange hues. "You must know about Shogun Ieyasu's illness, right?"

Yashamaru nodded.

"My… father is his doctor. My mother is from a long line of apothecaries."

"A fitting couple," Yashamaru noted with a grin.

Amaya couldn't help but grin back, "Yeah, that's what everyone says."

"And the Shogun lets you live in Sunpu Castle just because of that?" Yashamaru asked, slight hint of incredulization in his tone.

Amaya searched for an answer. "Uhm… yeah."

This time it was Yashamaru's turn to look disbelieving. "And he sure pays your family a lot." He poked Amaya's obi, which he knew still had money hidden away in it for emphasis. She shied away from the gesture with a good humored glare, then shrugged.

"I can't say I mind," she replied with a smirk.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling the whole truth?"

Amaya didn't protest his accusation and shrugged again. "Well, there wouldn't be much you could do about it if I wasn't." She lifted herself to her feet then smoothed and brushed off her kimono, only realizing once she was on her feet that her knife was still not in her possession. It was laying on the ground beside Yashamaru. She blanched, uncertain if she should reach for it.

Yashamaru noticed her dilemma and picked up the weapon in question. "It's nice," he complimented, admiring the detailing on the handle as best he could in the fading light. "A gift bought with your father's paycheck, I'm sure?"

Amaya winced, but in the dim light, Yashamaru didn't catch the expression. "Yeah."

In a risky move, he tossed the knife back to Amaya.

She glared at him, but still caught the knife deftly by the hilt and in one smooth motion slipped it back into its hidden sheath. She snorted. "And what would you have done if I hadn't caught that?" she asked casually.

"Caught it for you," he flashed a grin that was all teeth and the Gokujou wrapped around his right arm rippled in the dark. Amaya shied away from the appendage.

As they made there way back to Sunpu castle, Yashamaru lifted his hands up behind his head and looked down at Amaya. She didn't notice, or didn't bother to look up at him because he was staring at the top of her head when he asked, "So is it safe to assume you believe I'm a ninja now?"

Amaya looked up at him, biting her lip to keep from grinning, but one corner of her mouth still quirked up in a smile. "I suppose," she relented.

Yashamaru was about to say something snarky in response when he felt a raindrop, and then another several followed. The drip drop quickly matured into steady downpour, and Amaya squeaked feeling the precipitation start to seep through her kimono.

"I do believe it's raining," Yashamaru stated the obvious with another trademark grin.

Amaya just scowled at him and hugged her basket of plants to her chest, protecting them as best she could from the rain, then picked up her pace to a slow jog that Yashamaru had no trouble keeping up with; however, it was a good twenty minutes more travel before they would reach the shelter of Sunpu Castle, and the sun had long ago set leaving nothing but the faint light of street lamps to walk by.

"I could carry you," Yashamaru suggested, having to shout over the roar of the rain.

Amaya looked up at him, face slightly flushed with exertion and probably cold. She chewed her lip and looked as though she wanted to say no. A crash of thunder in the distance decided her. "Okay."

She was effortlessly lifted in Yashamaru's arms, and their pace doubled now that he could move at his own speed.

Yashamaru set Amaya down once they were under the shelter of Sunpu Castle's wall. "Thanks," she told him, running a hand through her hair to push wet, wayward strands out of her face.

"Eh," Yashamaru shrugged, "Not a problem."

As the gate keeper let them both through, Yashamaru felt the need to ask one more question. "No hard feelings about earlier, right?"

Amaya gave him a confused look, and he gestured his own forearms to clarify.

"Oh! Of course not!" she answered with a genuine smile.

Yashamaru smiled back. "Good." He startled Amaya by wrapping his arms around her shoulders in a brief embrace. "Then will I see you tomorrow."

It took Amaya a moment to regain her composure, and she was quite sure her face was flushed with the heat of embarrassment. "Uhm… sure, if you want, I guess," she answered.

He flashed her one more smile and looked like he might have been about to say something else, but an irritated, rasping elderly woman's voice interrupted him. "Yashamaru, where the hell have you been?" Iga Ogen demanded from a little ways down the hall.

Yashamaru glanced over his shoulder at her. "I think that's my cue to leave." That really was the last heart warming smile he offered her before he turned to meet with the old woman down the hall who was glaring murderously at him.

Amaya stared after him a little longer than was proper before turning on her heel and heading back to her family's quarters. In the corner of her mind she knew she should be worried about her mothers inevitable reaction to her damp purchase, but she couldn't seem to focus on that problem. The rational part of her brain had taken a back seat to the romantic part.

[1 crab, shrimp, and spicy tuna

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:bows politely:  
thank you for reading  
hope you enjoyed it!  
reviews are appreciated 


	2. Downpour

A/N: Because one chapter is generally never enough to truly get anyone hooked, and in the case of this piece was merely introduction, I give you two. Also wanted to let you know, the rest of the cast is coming, promise. Thankyou for reading this far!

Warnings: violence, language

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**Firefly Effect****  
Downpour**

It wasn't particularly nice outside by Amaya's standards. The rain had done nothing to cool the air, but had instead added a dense humidity to it as the puddles that had been left behind evaporated into the air. Even though she could barely tolerate the muggy weather, she waited dutifully just outside the gates of Sunpu Castle. Trying to avoid the worst of the sun's glare and heat, she was leaned against the wall, barely shaded by its awning, with hands clutched behind her back and her legs crossed at the ankles in front of her. At the moment, her head was bent down and her eyes were closed, the heat lolling her into a lazy state.

"Amaya-san!" someone called from above her.

Amaya stepped out several steps so she could see whoever was talking to her from up on the wall, hoping futilely that it was Yashamaru. A familiar guard whose name she couldn't remember, but that she knew she saw regularly waved down at her.

She managed as much of a cheery smile as she could and squinted her eyes to look up at him and wave back.

"What are you doing down there?" he shouted.

"Waiting for someone," she answered, unable to think up a convincing lie.

"Who?" he questioned.

Amaya finally gave up squinting and lifted a hand over her eyes to shade them. "Yashamaru-san," she answered. "Have you seen him?"

The guards face contorted into a confused expression and she realized he must not recognize the name. "Oh! Was that who you were with yesterday?" he asked.

Tired of shouting up the wall, Amaya just nodded hopefully.

"Nope, I haven't seen him at all today."

Amaya bit her lip, knowing that the guard wouldn't be able to see the expression in the shadow of her hand, and barely managed to hind her disappointment when she shouted, "Thank you anyway," up to him. She resumed her position against the wall and her shoulders slumped. Sulkily she realized that even if he were to show up, by now her hair was frizzed and falling from the knot it had been tied in on the top of her head and her kimono was becoming damp with moisture from the air, not to mention the sheen of sweat that was collecting across her cheekbones and forehead. She forced herself to wait another ten minutes before straightening up and heading toward the gate to ask the guard to just let her back in. As she was tugging down fabric that had ridden up into her obi, there was a startling crash in the middle of the complex. She darted out from under the shelter of the wall, half afraid that it would collapse and craned her head to look at the spires and roofs within it.

There was a noticeable amount of soot and dust rising up off a lower roof as parts and pieces of clay shingles toppled down its slanted surface to shatter further on the ground below.

"My god, what's going on?" Amaya shouted up to the guard, who seemed just as rattled as she was when he opened the gate to let her back in.

"I don't know," he answered, meeting her on the ground. "Though rumor has it the Shogun is holding something in the center most courtyard."

Amaya cast another glance in the direction of the damaged building which still had a steady could of dusty debris rising off of it. It was adjacent to the courtyard in question. "Huh, I think I'll look for myself," she decided, turning on her heel and slipping inside. She thought she heard the guard yelling after to her to let him know what was going on, but she ignored him.

Amaya knew full well that it would be a fruitless endeavor to trudge all the way to the doors of the innermost courtyard, because it was more than likely that she didn't merit entrance if she hadn't merited an invitation. However, one doesn't grow up in Sunpu Castle and not know there way around, and Amaya knew the perfect vantage point from which to see into the Shogun's personal court yard.

It was one of the highest points of Sunpu Castle and like most of the castle, it was no longer inhabited. Amaya couldn't remember a time during her nineteen years living in the Shogun's castle that this particular tower had ever had an occupant, which was all for the better because it had been her secret sanctuary for most of those years and had allowed her to be privy to dozens of things she doubtlessly was not supposed to know, namely the number of mistresses the so-called happily married Shogun actually had as she had been witness to the seduction of nearly all of them.

However, what was going on in the courtyard today was far from seduction. There were a total of seven figures there. She recognized Shogun Ieyasu with his massive tumorous chin and his two closest advisors who knelt just in front of him to his right and to his left. Just outside of them, as though forming the shorter legs of an obtuse triangle were an elderly man and woman. The woman she recognized as the elderly lady who had snapped at Yashamaru. The man she had never seen before. The last two persons were moving at such speeds that from her vantage point so high up she could make out little more than blurs.

They weren't blurs for very long. A huge man with a hunched back and long, obscurely bent arms scurried up the wall beside her window, startling Amaya and causing her to stumble backwards away from the window so quickly that she toppled over onto her hands and rear. She barely managed to get back to her feet and scramble back to the window sill in time to a see a familiar set of threads wrap tightly around the spider man and yank him back to the ground with an aggravated grunt. Once he was gone, Amaya leaned nearly her entire upper body out the window to look out onto their battlefield, as by now she had figured out that was what the inner courtyard was being used for today.

Sure enough, poised for a fight and braced on the balls of his feet was Yashamaru. His arms were held up and away from his body and long tendrils of thread snaked out away from them. Amaya watched with wide eyes as the threads darted, seemingly of their own accord at the hunch backed spider man at a much more menacing speed than they had at her the night before and tied him fast to a large rock. She could tell the spider man was struggling against the threads, the sheath of his katana the only thing holding them at bay as they slowly pulled tighter around him. Amaya winced seeing slashes dart across his skin where the ever tightening strings bit through. She barely refrained from vomiting when she saw one particular wire slice into his cheek and she whipped her head away from the window and squinted her eyes shut, even lifted her hands to cover her ears. Her body tensed in preparation to drown out the horrifying sounds Yashamaru's opponent would produce when his body was sliced to literal shreds.

No such cries of agony nor squishing sounds of severed flesh reached her ears, though, only a frighteningly loud collapse easily bypassed the barrier of Amaya's hands over her ears. She jerked her head back around in order to look back out the window.

The fighters' audience had lifted their arms up over their heads as shards of shattered rock exploded in every direction, momentarily distorting Amaya's view of the battlefield with more dust and debris. When the clouds of dirt dissipated, two fighters still remained, both on their toes and panting with exertion, ready for the other to strike any time.

In a disturbing display, the spider man's tongue darted out of his mouth and spewed a noxious green, gooey substance at Yashamaru. The Iga ninja flung up his arms to block the attack, but the glop stuck hard to his face and trapped his arms in their position blocking it, hindering both his ability to move and his ability to see.

His opponent stalked up to the struggling Yashamaru, swinging his katana languidly back and forth through the air. Amaya swallowed loudly, easily able to imagine Yashamaru's trepidation as he heard the tell tale swish of the blade cutting through the air. Part of her wanted to squint her eyes shut, another was completely unable to take her eyes off the fighting pair, and the last part wanted to fling herself down through the window and bring the madness to a stop. The impulsive, crazy part of her wanted to do that, she decided; the same part that had wanted her to learn to use the throwing knives that were ever present under her kimono.

Spider man was circling Yashamaru like a shark, drawing a little closer with every round, always swinging his blade lazily back and forth as though to taunt his prey with it. Yashamaru was by now holding completely still, focussing what remained of his senses on his opponent's impending attack.

The hunch backed spider man slowly sheathed his katana when he was close enough that another step would press him flush against Yashamaru's back.

Amaya could feel her heart rate quickening and the urge to look away becoming ever stronger, but still not strong enough to her overwhelming need to watch and know for certain what was going on.

A sinewy arm snaked up between Yashamaru's legs from behind and another wrapped around his shoulders, taunting him, letting him know just how badly he was at his opponent's mercy at the moment.

The only visible part of Yashamaru's face was his mouth, and the corner quirked up in a smirk that clearly stated that he was unaffected and unworried about his opponent's proximity. Suddenly not only the strings wrapped around Yashamaru's arms, but also a set around his ankles lashed out, causing the spider man to jump back out of the way and shredding the gook masking Yashamaru's face.

Unfortunately, Amaya noted with slight disappointment that was rather inappropriate considering the situation, the move had also severed Yashamaru's silky shoulder blade length black hair, leaving a shaggy uneven mess behind. She sighed and leaned her elbows on the window sill and then rested her chin in her palms, content for the moment that Yashamaru was safe, if the full blown confident smirk on his face was any indication.

Spider man's face sported a few new bleeding slices and his body heaved a little with each breath, the agility required to get out of the way without his losing his head or a limb to Yashamaru's Gokujou having taken a toll on him. He wasn't down for long, though, and a volley of what Amaya had decided must be the man's phlegm shot from his tongue like bullets at Yashamaru, who was now prepared for such attacks and easily maneuvered out of their path. His arms shot out in front of him and the threads of his Gokujou lashed out toward the spider man, who yanked out his katana with just barely enough speed to deflect the deadly strings.

Amaya inhaled deeply and held her breath as the two fighters were lost again in another blur of exchanging blows, only the faint glint of sun on Yashamaru's Gokujou and the occasional glob of phlegm splattering against a wall could be clearly seen from where Amaya was poised in her tower.

Their struggling blur of fighting limbs and strings leapt onto a roof, giving it the same treatment as they had the first, only the crash of splintering timber and shattering tile was excruciatingly louder because of Amaya's place so close to it. She pressed her back flat against the wall just to the right of the window as ceramic shrapnel exploded off in every direction. She could hear it careening with the wall she was leaning against, and she squinted her eyes shut and turned her cheek against the stone when shards flew in through the window and smashed against the opposite wall. Absently, she realized that there would be nothing left of Sunpu Castle if this was allowed to go on much longer.

Apparently Shogun Ieyasu felt the same way, for she heard his rumbling voice holler for the two combatants to stop as loud as he could. To Amaya up in the tower, it was faint and she had to strain her ear to hear exactly what he said, but to those on the ground – or in the case of Yashamaru and his opponent, the roof above the Shogun's head – it would be an unignorable frighteningly loud booming order.

When the dirt and dust and ceramic bits had finally settled, Amaya slowly turned to look out the window. It appeared the Shogun had called the match just in time, for had it been allowed to go on a moment longer one or the other fighter would have been killed. Yashamaru was precariously balanced in the center beam of the roof, wide blade braced in one hand. The long fingered hand of the spider man was wrapped over the top of Yashamaru's head, poised as if to crush his skull. Very briefly, she wondered if the two fighters would listen to the Shogun at all, or if they would continue despite his order. After a tense moment of stillness and silence, both fighters drew apart and dropped down from the roof.

Amaya felt a rush of air exhale from her lungs that she hadn't realize she had been holding and turned so she could slide down and slump against the wall, her mind whirling at ninety miles an hour as she realized how worried she had been for Yashamaru's safety. The next she looked out the window, the party was filing out of the courtyard in a small mass. She'd have to hurry if she was going to catch Yashamaru before he disappeared into the recesses of the castle.

Lucky for Amaya, he had just split away from the group when she collided with him. She flung her arms around his waist and pressed her face into his chest. "Yashamaru! You're not hurt are you?" she demanded, looking up at him with something of a cross between worry and anger.

"No…" he seemed slightly confused as to why she would ask, and it took a moment for him to realize what must have happened. "You saw all that?"

Amaya squinted her eyes shut and pressed her cheek a little tighter against his chest. Yashamaru gently rubbed her shoulders, trying to soothe the anxious creature who clung to him. "Amaya-san," he cooed, "That's not something a girl like yourself should have seen."

Amaya cast a baleful glare up at him in a expression that was much more like herself. "I was worried when you didn't meet me this morning…" she admitted, finally releasing her death grip on his waist and standing back to stare at her toes.

Yashamaru reached out and gently patted her on the head, which caused her to look back up at him. He had his trademark grin plastered across his face. "Well, I don't have to leave for a little while. We could go somewhere now."

Amaya was content with this, and the two of them left for the same spot on the bank of the Abekawa River they had relaxed at the day before.

"So," Amaya began, leaning back in the grass and propping herself up on her elbows, "What was going on? What were you and spider guy fighting about?"

Yashamaru snickered quietly at Amaya's name for the Kouga ninja Kazamachi. "To decide who will be heir to the Tokugawa Shogunate."

Amaya wrinkled her nose at this. "What?" she demanded, confusion laced into the word.

Yashamaru paused and thought a moment, searching for the right way to word the answer. "I represented one potential heir, Kazamachi of the Kouga ninja the other. The potential heir whose representative won would have be named official heir to the Tokugawa Shogunate."

When Amaya's nose wrinkled again and her brow furrowed, Yashamaru thought he was going to have to explain again in even smaller terms, but she spoke. "That's stupid. One of you could've died. Why the hell die to pick an heir? Tell that asshole Ieyasu to pick an heir himself."

Yashamaru's eyes widened a little at the blatant disrespect Amaya had just shown for the Shogun, but at the same time, he couldn't quite find argument with her words. When she put it so bluntly, it did seem a foolish thing to die for, even if the prize was coupled with favor from the Shogunate.

There was an awkward silence as the two of them mulled over their respective feelings on the matter before Amaya spoke. "Well, who won?" she asked.

"Neither of us. Shogun Ieyasu stopped us before a winner could be determined for the sake of Sunpu Castle."

Amaya nodded agreement with this decision, then continued. "Well, then, is he just going to break down and pick and heir?"

"No…" Yashamaru debated heavily whether or not he should inform Amaya of the new plan considering how strongly she had reacted the original idea.

Amaya peered up at him through narrowed eyes. "What new plan did that idiot Ieyasu come up with now?"

Yashamaru gulped. "Well, since a one on one fight was too damaging to his property and was taking too long, Shogun Ieyasu asked Iga Ogen and Kouga Danjo to inscribe ten names from their clans onto a scroll."

Amaya's eyes widened. She knew the story of the Iga and Kouga rivalry, and was afraid of what was coming next.

"Whichever clans' members survive, the prospective heir they represent will be named."

"That's ludicrous!" Amaya flung herself to a standing position and threw her arms out in an exasperated gesture. "It's a waste of life! You can't really want to sacrifice yourself because Ieyasu is an indecisive bastard can you? Besides, doesn't such a large amount of bloodshed violate the No Hostilities Pact?!" She sounded outraged.

Yashamaru stared up at the tyrading young adult dumbly.

Amaya's arms dropped to her side and her face fell along with the motion. "You're going to go through with it, aren't you? The clans are really going to do this. You're going to let yourselves be used by Ieyasu like… like a fucking coin toss!"

Yashamaru stared guiltily at his feet, which were crossed at the ankles in front of him.

If anything, Amaya's shoulders slumped further. "You want this. The clans fucking want this! They've been waiting four hundred goddamn years for that Pact to be annulled, haven't they? It's going to be a bloodbath!" She turned haunted eyes on Yashamaru. "You could die, Yashamaru. Do you really want to die for that asshole Shogun?"

"I don't think you understand, Amaya-san. It's not for the Shogun that the clans are going to fight. It's for revenge and for dignity." For the first time, Yashamaru was unable to look at Amaya as he spoke.

Amaya, for her part, was speechless. Then, quite suddenly she fell into a sitting position on the grass, legs crossed in front of her, hands clasping her overlapping ankles so tightly her knuckles were white. Tears were leaking from the corners of her eyes, and her body trembled with the effort to with hold them. When Yashamaru craned his head to look her in the face he saw that her eyes were squinted shut and she had bit down on her bottom lip so hard a trickle of blood ran down her chin.

"Amaya-san…" Yashamaru trailed, reaching out a hand to gently lift her head up. She made a half-hearted attempt to swat his hand away, uselessly. Amaya glared at him as best she could through tear blurred vision.

"This is stupid!" she snarled, though her voice was hoarse with held back tears. "How many people are going to die for something that happened four hundred years ago, Yashamaru?" Tears streamed from her eyes of their own will, but Amaya's jaw was set and her glare had become more forceful.

Yashamaru didn't know what to say. He wished fervently that he had never told her; he had never expected this kind of reaction. He looked guiltily away.

"The clans were so close to true peace, I thought." Amaya leaned around to look Yashamaru in the face as best she could. "Why would you let this rip it apart?"

"Amaya-san, I'm sorry, but you cannot possibly understand," he gritted out, still refusing to look her in the face.

"Oh, I think I understand just fine," she said darkly. "The Iga and Kouga clans are trapped in the past, so fixated on blood that they can't move foreword and they're going to start a fucking war because of it. You can't really believe those twenty names will be the only people to lose their lives to this petty grudge? How many more people will have to die, Yashamaru?" she accused.

Yashamaru couldn't deny this at all. In fact, he expected as much to happen. The Iga would slaughter ever last Kouga they found, if they had their way. He stared coldly at the ground.

"You probably want that to happen," Amaya spat acidly.

Yashamaru whirled around, wanting to deny the barbaric accusation Amaya had just made and found by his own admittance that he could not. Amaya was bitterly aware of as much, and it stung her. He could see the sadness in her face and eyes, even if it was belied by her caustic words. She snorted and turned away from him, curling her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, then resting her chin on them and glared out over the Abekawa, as though somehow the river could be held responsible.

"Amaya-san, I'm sorry…"

"No you're not," she interrupted, still glaring at the water, which sparkled peacefully in the setting sunlight, unaware of the hostility on its shores.

Something large floated past them, interrupting the endless orange stars that glimmered on the surface, and Amaya lifted her head a little so she could see what it was. Her horrified gasp was simultaneous with Yashamaru's as he, too, noticed the disturbance in the water.

Iga Ogen and Kouga Danjo's bodies floated by, cuddled close to each other in a final embrace. A grizzly trickle of blood trailed behind them, attesting to the conflict that had occurred not many moments before. Barely visible because of the distance and the sun's glare, a long needle skewered through Ogen's throat, the last traces of blood around the punctures not yet washed away by the river. There was probably a similar injury through a vital point of Danjo's body, but an overwhelming wave of nausea overcame Amaya and she jerked her gaze away as bile rose in her throat. Then, decidedly she flung herself to her feet and placed herself between Yashamaru and the gruesome preview of what was to come if the Kouga and Iga were allowed to have at each other again.

"Do you see them?" Amaya snarled with harshness she didn't feel, flinging her arm out to point at the floating corpses, and the tears spilling freely from her eyes yet again gave her away. "Do you want to end up like that?" she just barely managed to snarl out before her voice gave away to tears, then rasping sobs. She stumbled a little, nearly toppling over, but Yashamaru caught her against him, hands holding her shoulders tightly, not allowing her to force him away, even though she struggled. Finally the fight in her died away and she collapsed against his chest, fisting her hands in the fabric of his shirt, unable to stop the sobs. "You could die, Yashamaru," she choked out. "I don't want you to die!"

"Shh," he soothed gently, holding her head to his chest with one hand, fingers tenderly stroking her hair. "I'm not going to," he promised. Then slowly he forced her arms length away from him, still holding her shoulders, half afraid she would topple over if he let them go.

Amaya sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, trying to refind an angry glare and failing to blink back tears long enough to be successful.

"It has already begun, Amaya-san. Nothing can be done now." He patted her head. "Don't worry about any of this, and certainly don't worry about me. A girl like you should never be so broken up about anything. You're not as pretty when you cry."

She scowled.

"And it appears I must be going a little sooner than I planned." He bent and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. "I hope I'll see you again, Amaya-san." He didn't flash her his overly bright grin, nor wave goodbye. He was just suddenly gone with characteristic ninja speed, not even leaving a direction in which Amaya could stare after him.

Instead she turned her swollen eyes on the couple floating down the river. They were almost out of eyesight, but the trail of blood they left behind remained, a grim picture of the future. Amaya bit her lip and fisted her hands at her sides. Her whole body was trembling with tension. "I can't let this happen," she whispered to the setting sun. "I won't."

* * *

A/N: Just to let you know, this is not not not not a Yashamaru x Amaya piece. I would never break up Yashamaru and Hotarubi like that. Please, bear with me, and thanks so much for reading. Reviews are, of course, adored. 


	3. Hurricane

A/N: Thank you so much for reading this far. My plot thickens from here on out, and as promised, a good amount of the actual Basilisk cast arrive in this chapter. Please enjoy! 

Warnings: language, strong violence, mature concept

* * *

**Firefly Effect****  
Hurricane**

Amaya tried to silently slide the door closed so as not to alert any of her family members that she had returned home. She wanted to be by herself to brood over the loss of Yashamaru. She thought she had cried all the tears she had, but felt more sting the corners of her eyes. There was not a chance in hell he would come back alive, not a chance in hell that she would ever see him again.

Despite her bold words on the bank of the Abekawa, Amaya didn't have the slightest inkling of how to stop the Iga and Kouga's impending war.

"Amaya-chan?" her mother's voice called from a more inner room of their chambers. "Is that you?"

Amaya blinked back whatever tears threatened to spill from her eyes and composed herself as best she could before answering. "Yes!"

"Ah, good." This time the voice was much closer, and the fusuma just down the hall from Amaya opened. Akane stepped out, a small pot in her hands. "Can you take this to Oeyo-san for me? Lord Kunichiyo seems to be sick again."

Amaya just barely refrained from letting her shoulders slump and took the pot from her mother. "Of course."

"Thank you, Amaya-chan," Akane said brightly before returning to where ever she had emerged from.

Amaya sighed and turned in the direction of the Edo women's chambers.

As Amaya drew close to Oeyo's door, she could hear excited voices within. Not wanting to interrupt, she waited patiently outside the door for the conversation to cease, but she couldn't help overhearing. Her eyes widened when she realized what the women were discussing.

"Kunichiyo is sure to be named heir," a high pitched voice chortled, "with the Kouga representing him. How could he lose? Have you seen the pretty faces of the Iga clan? Takechiyo doesn't have chance!"

"You shouldn't be so overly optimistic so soon," a serpentine voice responded, hint of sarcasm in the tone. The chuckle that followed gave away that the speaker didn't really believe the adage. "Though I do like our odds." Amaya wrinkled her nose, thinking she heard the deep inhale of someone smoking.

The first speaker made a noise of agreement.

Amaya was startled when the screen was pulled back and she found herself staring into the irritated eyes of one of Oeyo's minions. "What do we have hear?" The voice was like nails on a chalkboard and Amaya flinched away. "An eaves dropper?"

Amaya shook her head the negative. "Forgive me," she stammered. "I was just here to deliver Lord Kunichiyo's medicine to Oeyo-sama from Akane-san." She offered the pot out to the woman glaring down at her without meeting her eyes.

The ceramic container was ripped from her hands. Amaya peered up to see it placed in the slightly wrinkled hands of another.

"Is Akane-san sure this will work?" Oeyo's low pitched voice sneered. "Lord Kunichiyo's cough has not gotten any better."

"I'm sure it just takes a little time for effects of the medicine to show, Oeyo-sama," Amaya explained while nodding her head fervently. "It will most definitely work."

Oeyo snorted. "It better, or I'll get that whore mother of yours tossed out of this castle."

Amaya winced. She hadn't realized she had been recognized, nor did she appreciate the insult to both her and her mother. She bit her lip to refrain from reacting and remained bowed over, not looking at either woman's face.

She heard the two women whisper between each other, then the high pitched snigger of the woman who had opened the door, followed by Oeyo's barked command of "You may go now."

Amaya bent a little further at the waist in a respectful bow. "Goodnight, ladies."

She hadn't expected a response and turned to head back to her family's chambers, an idea having been sparked in her mind at the mention of Kunichiyo's illness. She chewed her lip and mulled over the risks of the scheme she envisioned, weighing checks and balances the entire way back to her bedroom. She felt the nausea of conflicting emotions boiling in her stomach as she untied and her obi and slipped out of her kimono for bed. The sore on the right corner of her mouth was reopened because of the abuse she was yet again putting her lower lip through. She pulled her blanket up to her chin and squinted her eyes shut. In the morning she would put the plan into motion. The matter would be settled by nightfall tomorrow.

Amaya hugged her pillow tightly and buried her face into its fabric. The issue of heir to be would be solved much faster than anyone in Sunpu Castle could have guessed.

Amaya woke when the first sunbeams peaked through the window and poured with less intensity through the thin screens of the walls. The muggy heat from the day before had dissapated leaving crisp warmth in its wake. It was a beautiful day, Amaya noted with a hint of sadness, and she was going to tarnish it.

Her mother and Jiro-san never woke before noon, Jiro because neither did Shogun Ieyasu and so he would not have to see him before then; her mother because as an apothecary she could easily choose her own hours for making medicines, allowing Amaya plenty of time to roam her mother's store of herbs and plants for the perfect poison.

Her first thought was her mother's belladonna, because her mother would never notice a few berries missing from it, but on second thought, the violent convulsions and hallucinations would be a tell tale sign of poison. The sudden death that yew berries caused would be no better. She scrunched up her brow. Last night the plan had seemed full proof, even if it had made her stomach churn.

She continued to scower the shelves. Mistletoe berries had too potent a scent that would give away their presence before they were injested, not only failing in purpose but would also get her executed. Water hemlock was another causer of tell tale convulsions, and poison hemlock could not be reduced to a liquid state. The subtle oak poison would be perfect, but Amaya didn't have weeks to wait for the boy to die. She needed something quick and natural looking or completely unexplainable. If only Takumi had not been out of rosary peas; they would have been perfect.

After fourty minutes of searching, she found a tightly sealed jar of jasmine berries, and her eyes widened in morbid joy. 'Fatal' and 'jasmine berries' were almost synonymous. They would definitely kill a boy of Kunichiyo's size in less than a day, but not without violent fits of nausea and vomitting. It would look like a sudden, lethal crop up of the flu, especially after the chest cold the boy had been suffering from.

Amaya dumped four berries into a small bowl and carried it to her mother's work table. The recipe for Kunichiyo's cough medicine was on the top of her mother's files. It was a simple enough concoction to make, much to Amaya's relief, and all she had to do was mash the berries and add them to the mix. The potent scents of the medicine's other ingrediants easily covered the mild scent of the jasmine berries and the pale red juice disappeared in the otherwise dark blue substance.

Amaya poured her poison from the mixing bowl into a similar pot to the one she had carried Kunichiyo's medicine in the day before, noting absently the white flower design that decorated it. How ironic. [1

She exhaled, put the lid on the pot, and carried it back to her room, where she stashed it carefully in the tangle of unkept blankets. Once the pot was safely tucked away, she returned to her mother's store room to tidy up, making sure to leave everything exactly as she had found it. It wasn't that she was not allowed in her mother's work room. Far from it, as she was teaching Amaya the craft of being an apothecary, but it would rouse considerable suspicion if Amaya's mother found out she was working alone in the room at early hours of the morning.

With the deadly cocktail made and the work room spotless, Amaya felt the adrenaline that had come with fear of getting caught crumble out from beneath her to leave her weak and worried about what she was about to do. She glared at the pile of blankets under which her poison was conceled.

That poison wasn't going to kill a monster or a barbarian or a tyrant; it was going to kill a boy, a child bearly out of his mother's arms. Amaya felt tears at the corners of her eyes and she blinked them back furiously. The thought of killing such a youth made her nauseous. She clutched her ankles tightly, until her knuckles ached and she was sure bruises were forming on the skin. She toar her gaze from where the pot was. As bile rose in her throat, she felt the urge to snatch up the jar and hurl it against the ground, shattering it and splattering its lethal cotents onto the ground, nullifying them.

Her guilty conscience pointed out that she was only doing this for Yashamaru; she was taking one life to save one life, and that she didn't really care about the Iga and Kouga ninja clans or the innocent lives they would take. With her entire strength she tried to fight off that awful thought. She was not going to kill this child for a such a selfish reason as to keep one man alive. No, she was going to kill Kunichiyo to save dozens of lives. Killing the boy heir would mean an abrupt end to the violence between the Iga and Kouga, and thus save any lives that might be caught in crossfire as well, she tried to justify the action.

The next guilt ridden self accusation was more painful than the first. If it was really for the good of so many lives, why not slip in and slit the boy's throat, kill him quickly and likely be caught. If it was such a noble cause, taking the life of this child, why go through the self preservation of poison so she wouldn't get caught?

Amaya shook her head, tears brimming from her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. She was completely unable to stop them. With every second thought, she wanted more and more to climb to her feet and destroy the toxic liquid stashed amongst her sleeping covers. She sobbed. It was true though: Kunichiyo would die neither quickly nor painlessly because Amaya had taken such pains to not be caught. He would suffer violent nausea and vomitting for most of the day before he died, all to look like an actual illness, all so that the fingers of accusation would never be pointed at Amaya.

Amaya chewed her lip, suddenly debating making a new poison, one that would clearly appear such, but would immediately kill the child heir and not allow him to suffer. The idea germinated in her head for several minutes, but she was startled out of her thoughts when someone slid open the door of her room.

"Good, you're awake already," were Amaya's mother's first words upon entering. "I'm spending the day with Shogun Ieyasu. We're trying an aromatherapy." She held up a wire mesh container of dried herbs. "Would you be a dear and watch the shop for me? Just write down who comes and what they think they need for me, okay?"

"Sure," Amaya answered. She was momentarily afraid she had responded too quickly.

Her mother beamed. "Thank you so much, Amaya-chan." She bent and kissed her daughter's cheek before turning to leave.

Amaya waited until she couldn't hear her mother's footsteps even if she strained her ears before she removed the little pot from its hiding place. She inhaled deeply and stared at the fateful little object that she cradled in her hands. It was too late to turn back now, the impulsive part of her reasoned, having been silent up until now. Amaya took another deep breath and started toward Oeyo's rooms.

She rapped softly on the wooden support beam between the paper panels of Oeyo's walls. The screen was flung open so abruptly and with such force that Amaya nearly dropped the clay pot. "What the hell do you want so damn early?" Oeyo demanded.

Amaya cowered back from her and started to sputter an apology.

"Goddammit, girl, look at me when you talk! I can't understand you!"

Amaya's head snapped up. She must have been white as a sheet, and she could feel roiling nausea churning in her stomach. Her hands had started tremble and her subconscious was telling her to drop the pot now and be done with everything.

"Well," Oeyo snapped when Amaya just stared at her with large, frightened eyes, "What is it?"

"Forgive me, Oeyo-sama." Amaya just barely refrained from ducking her head down to stare at her toes. "I brought Kunichiyo-san's morning medicine." She offered the little pot, deciding to bow as she handed it to the older woman.

"He hadn't been taking medicine in the mornings before," Oeyo crooned quizzically as she took the jar.

Amaya was glad she had bowed her head, because her eyes widened in horrified shock and her face must have paled another two shades lighter. She hadn't even thought of this, was completely unprepared to spit out a convincing lie.

Oeyo's arrogance saved her. "I suppose it's for the better, though. He has been getting worse."

Amaya peered up at Oeyo through her bangs. There wasn't a hint of suspicion in the woman's body language, much to Amaya's relief.

"You may go now," Oeyo informed her absently with a dismissing hand gesture.

It was a struggle for Amaya to turn and walk away in a seemingly calm manner. All parts of her wanted to turn tale and scurry off to the safety of her tower and wallow there, and she was sorely disappointed when she realized that her tower wasn't an option at all because she had to watch her mother's shop.

Amaya wasn't prepared for the stomach upset that attacked her as soon as she reached the safety of her family's chambers. She dropped onto her knees with a thud that had she not been destracted by her body's fits of tremors, she would have worried that someone might have heard, and she felt the bruising sting of the hard wood floor surface through the mats. It started as a tingle in her throat that grew in intensity until it was an undeniable burn and the pains in her middle made her want to collapse onto her futon, yet she couldn't find the energy to will her body to do anything more than rock back and forth. She groaned quietly and leaned forward so far that her forehead rested on the tatami. She barely managed to lift herself upright as she started to wretch painfully and her stomach heaved, making it hard to breath. She hadn't eaten much in the last several days, but that only made the fits of vomitting more painful.

Amaya was dizzy by the time the nausea subsided; the last thing she remembered thinking as she dragged herself on her trembling hands and knees toward her futon was that it was only fitting that her stress abuse her like this. Then she collapsed on her side, completely unconscious onto the thin mattress, arms stretched out in front of her, unable to drag the blankets up over shoulders.

The sun was setting when frantic shouting roused Amaya out of her sleep. Slightly dazed, she hoisted herself upright, startled when the yelling continued, proving not to be some figment of her nightmares. Still groggy, she rubbed her eyes. The hollering was suddenly accopanied by the thump of a fist on the wood supports. Amaya's nose wrinkled as with her regained awareness came the scent of stale vomit, reminding her of the day's activities.

"Dammit! Akane, you stupid slut, get out here!"

Amaya recognized the angry snarling as Oeyo's and suddenly she scrambled to her feet to meet the woman.

"Yes, Oeyo-sama?" Amaya asked politely bowing and trying desperatedly to hide any signs of trepidation.

Oeyo turned up her nose when she saw the state Amaya was in and sniffed distainfully. "Well don't you look the whore's daughter," she stated, gesturing absently at Amaya's rumpled kimono and mussed hair. "Where the hell is Akane?"

Amaya worried her lip between her teeth. "She's with Ieyasu-sama for the day. They're trying an aroma therapy," Amaya bit out.

Oeyo snorted. "I suppose she won't be back until late?"

Amaya shook her head.

Oeyo sighed exaggeratedly and rolled her eyes. "Well, fetch her. Lord Kunichiyo's illness has grown severely worse, and I need more of that medicine." She didn't sound worried; she sounded irritated, which made Amaya frown.

"I can make some more for you, Oeyo-sama," Amaya gritted out as politely as she could. "It'll just be a moment."

Oeyo scowled. "Make it quick."

"Of course." Amaya submissively ducked back into her mother's work room and put together the necessary ingrediants for Kunichiyo's medicine. Having already made the concoction earlier that morning, it was easy for Amaya to quickly replicate it. She capped the pot and started back out into the hall to give it to Oeyo, but when she was almost to the door she stopped, turned on her heel and returned to the work room, taking the jar of jasmine berries down from the shelf on her way to the table. She dumped several into the bowl on the table without counting and mashed them hurriedly before adding the bowl's contents into the little pot. She set her jaw and steeled herself to give the pot to Oeyo looking completely confident.

"Here you go," Oeyo-sama. She offered the jar to the glaring woman with a fake bright smile. "I hope Lord Kunichiyo feels better." Her insides were starting to churn again, and she hoped desperatly that her act wasn't unbelievably cheery.

Oeyo scoffed and turned around, turning briefly to look over her shoulder. "If only your mother knew her place as well as you do."

Amaya just clutched her hands together in front of her and bowed again to hide the way her mouth was contorting in a scowl.

She heard a second set of footsteps as Oeyo walked away and another of the noblewoman's trademark snorts. "There you are. Have fun with Shogun Ieyasu, Akane?" Oeyo sneered.

Amaya didn't here if her mother answered; she had to rush back into the work room and stash the materials she had used to mix the jasmine berries. She didn't have time to wash them. She heard her mother slide open the door just as she shoved the bowl and pestle behind a row of jars.

"Amaya-chan, what was Oeyo doing here?" Akane's brow furrowed with the question.

Amaya whipped around. "Oh! Lord Kunichiyo has been feeling worse. She wanted some more medicine for him. You don't have to worry about it, though. I found your recipe and made some up for her."

Akane reached out and patted her daughter's cheek. "How good of you." She frowned. "You're extremely pale and you feel clammy. Are you alright?"

Amaya slipped out of her mother's reach. "I'm fine. I'm a little tired, but I'm fine."

Akane frowned, but let her daughter go. "Alright." She patted her head. "Why don't you go to bed? It's starting to get late anyway."

Amaya managed a weak smile with her lips pressed together and nodded. "I think I will." Though first she had to clean up the aging puddle of regurgitated food without being seen, Amaya was prefectly content to go back to sleep.

xxx

News of Lord Kunichiyo's sudden death spread not only through Castle Sunpu, but the entire surrounding areas within the day, and right on the heels of that news was rumor that he was poisoned. No one would ever think to trace the poisoning back to the apothecaries that made the child heir's medicine; they were much too busy pointing fingers at every chef and servant to ever touch Kunichiyo's food.

xxx

Manjidani entered a state of pandemonium the minute word of Lord Kunichiyo's death reached the ninja stronghold. As with every place, whispers of poisoning followed, but the Kouga added a new theory to the rumor: an Iga conspiracy.

"Those cowardly sons of bitches!" Kasumi Gyoubu snarled and flung his arm out as if to pound his fist against the wall, but checked the gesture for fear of putting his hand through the intriciately painted paneling. "You know they must have done this!" The bulky ninja was seething where he stood. He had previously been leaning against the wall, but now he was standing upright, leaning forward a little to add force to his words.

Muroga Hyouma calmly turned blind eyes on the massive angry man. "What makes you think that, Gyoubu?" The slight hint of disbelief tainting the question was hard to miss.

"Because they're cowards! They didn't want to fight so they thought they could just settle it like this!"

No one in the room could deny the appeal of a such a insulting accusation against the Iga clan, but they did have to recognize that it was extremely unlikely.

"I would love to agree with you," Kisaragi Saemon offered, "But I don't think our Iga counterparts are any less eager for a fight than we are, wouldn't you say, Gennosuke-sama?"

Kouga Gennosuke had been pensively silent through the entire conversation. Actually, any remotely observant person could note that he had been pensively silent since word that the No Hostilities Pact had been absolved had arrived. He had only grown quieter and more thoughtful since news of child heir Kunichiyo's death and pontential murder had reached them. "I have to agree. Even if the Iga are responsible, I highly doubt they're intention was to finish this without loss of life."

"They probably just wanted to piss us off," Kazamachi Shogen snapped with an irritated snort and sipped from his small cup of tea. The spider man presented an odd picture sitting at the low table, long legs bent awkwardly to fit beneath it and abnormally long arms bowed so that he could hold his tea cup without guaging out Kagerou's eye with his elbow. The smaller woman, for her part, had been slowly inching out of range of the limb since conversation had begun.

"Mhmm," Saemon nodded, leaning back a little, "That does seem more pheasable."

"Well," his sister Okoi snarled from beside him, thrusting her right fist into her left palm with enough force that the resounding smack was probably heard two rooms over, "We're pissed. They got that right!" The kunoichi whirled to face Gennosuke. "What does the death of Kunichiyo mean to the Kouga? How does this settle of who the Shogunate favors?" she demanded.

Gennosuke crossed his arms over his chest and pondered the problem in silence. He had been waiting for one of his fellows to bring up that certain issue. It wasn't really as though any of them cared that Lord Kunichiyo was dead at all. Luckily a suggestion was voiced without advice from Gennosuke.

"I say we kill them all anyway," Kazamachi suggested coolly, still sipping at his tea, the cup of which seemed precariously balanced in his overly slim, lengthy fingers, "Then there will be no dispute at all as to who the Tokugawa Shogunate must favor." He didn't even bother to look at the rest of the room, just shrugged his shoulders and hulking back in an absent gesture. "I wouldn't mind taking on that bitch Yashamaru again."

Gennosuke was slightly disturbed to see the small nods of agreement make their way in a wave around the table.

"I say we go to Tsubagakure tonight," Gyoubu's booming voice carried over the growing volume of chatter that had begun as soon as Kazamachi had voiced his oppinion. "They won't be expecting us, and we can slaughter them!" He pounded his fist into his palm much in the same way Okoi had, but with significantly more force.

Saemon winced, wondering how the massive, short tempered ninja had not managed to do himself harm with such violent self abuse.

Only Hyouma had been silent through the excited talk of slaying the Iga ninjas, and cast a steady gaze through his eyelids at their leader who was sitting quietly, arms still crossed over his chest, mulling over what was to be done. Hyouma could sense how distraught the Kouga leader was, especially now that his people were so keyed up about the idea of a surprise attack on Tsubagakure.

"Gennosuke-sama," Hyouma leaned in close to his nephew in order to speak quietly with him. "You must decide what we are going to do." The excitement in the room was still steadily spiraling upwards, and no one but Kagerou, who had been staring at her leader throughout the entire course of the evening, noticed the exchange. She bit her lip, waiting hopefully for Gennosuke to annouce permission for the attack.

The newly appointed leader felt nothing but apprehension as he stood, drawing attention away from the fever pitched conversation and back to himself. He steeled himself for the inevitable reaction to his words. "There will be no surprise attack on Tsubagakure," he annouced. Five sets of eyes immediately narrowed to angry slits. "At least," he continued, maintaining confidence despite the outraged glares of his companions, "Not until I have met with Shogun Ieyasu to discuss the matter. They're may be no need for violence at all. The heir decided, the Pact can be reinstated and we can return to forming the tentative peace we had been working towards." Who was he kidding? No one in that room, with the exception of himself and maybe Hyouga, who if he desired peace it was only because his leader did, gave a damn about forging peace with the Iga.

Okoi's fist came down on the table hard enough that the pot of tea rocked precariously and her own cup wobbled off the edge, splattering its warm contents onto the tatumi as well as her bare leg. The kunoichi didn't seem to notice. "What the hell, Gennosuke? Those Iga bastards clearly don't want peace from us! Why should we even bother?" she snarled, slowly rising to her feet.

Saemon laid a firm hand on his sister's forearm, both dragging her down to a seated position and momentarily reminding her that it was her leader that she was snapping at. Okoi gritted her teeth and sat tense and silent, glaring at the table.

"She's not so far off the mark, Gennosuke-sama," Saemon pointed out calmly, hand still keeping steady pressure on Okoi's arm. "The Iga have made a move against us, indirect move though it may be. We don't know if their next move will be so indirect. It could be one of us poisoned next."

"Those are rumors," Gennosuke countered. "I always gave you more credit than to listen to women's gossip, Saemon," he snapped the insult convincingly even though he didn't believe it. The room fell silent, which was exactly the effect the words were meant to have. He needed to reign in his fellows before his authority was completely ignored. "The matter is settled. Because we do not act on unproven rumors, we hold off attacking the Iga until after we know for certain what is going on in Sunpu. Am I understood?"

No one hid their blatant outrage at Gennosuke's decision, for even as they nodded their heads in agreement, they glared at him with cold eyes then stalked out of the room, leaving only Hyouga and Gennosuke at the low table. Gennosuke immediately dropped onto his zabuton once they were all gone. "They're angry," he stated.

"Could you really expect them to react any differently?" Hyouga asked, quirking an eyebrow up at his young nephew.

Gennosuke sighed and shook his head the negative.

Gyoubu let out his barely restrained fury as soon as they were out of earshot from Gennosuke's compound by thrusting his fist into a concrete wall, causing the stone to tremble a little and Saemon to lay a hand on his shoulder much the same way he had Okoi, though he knew that if Gyoubu was really intent on destroying the wall in a fit of rage there was very little he could do about it. "Why does it matter if the Iga killed Kunichiyo or not? We should kill the Iga bastards anyway for what they've done to us! The No Hostilies Pact has been absolved. We are free to kill the Iga at will, whether they have made a move against us or not." Gyoubu let out an enraged shout and thrust the other fist against the wall, not heeding Saemon's barely restraining hand. This time the stone buckled a little and a fist sized indentation formed. "Why the hell does he want that goddamn pact reinstated anyway? We are better off without it!"

"So he can sleep with that whore, Oboro," Kagerou sneered, speaking for the first time that evening. "Haven't you heard, Gyoubu?" she teased sarcastically, "Our leader is in love with an Iga."

Gyoubu grunted in response and dropped his arms to his sides.

If there was such a thing as an arachnide voice, of course, it would belong to Kazamachi. The spider man leaned lazily against the wall, head bowed slightly as if thinking. "Why should we listen to Gennosuke? Clearly his judgement is clouded by his feelings for the girl, and he cannot be trusted to lead. Furthermore, if that idiot really does intend to have the No Hostilities Pact reinstated, shouldn't we kill as many Iga as we can while we have the chance?" he suggested slyly, prehensile tongue darting out of his mouth and wetting his lips hungrily.

There was a general pause as the party mulled over Kazamachi's theory. Gennosuke's "clouded judgement" was the deciding factor, and the five Kouga agreed it was reason enough to disobey their leader.

Dusk had just fallen. All traces of bright colors were gone from the sky, leaving in their wake hues of fading purples, indigos, and blues. Gyoubu stared skyward, studying the darkening sky. "If we are going to go, we should leave now." His voice was the calmest it had been all evening, though it was still a haunting bass.

"Should we tell Jousuke?" Okoi hazarded the question with a slight cock of her head to one side.

Kazamachi laughed outright at this suggestion, throwing his head back in such a way that it should have hit the wall but for his massive hunched back. "That dumb ass? He probably wouldn't even want to go and would tell Gennosuke before we got the chance to leave."

None of their party really wanted to waste the time to seek out the lecherous rubber ninja anyway, so Kazamachi's answer met no dispute, and they set out with characteristic ninja speed to ambush the Iga stronghold of Tsubagakure.

The city was asleep, which surprised the Kouga ninjas. They had expected an extensive watch to have been posted considering that they were in a state of war. As they easily slipped over the walls of Tsubagakure, all they could conclude was that Iga had let their guard down in the event of Kunichiyo's death.

Okoi and Kagerou stayed low in the shadows. Gyoubu had long since dropped his kimono and melded effortlessly into the walls. Saemon had taken the face of the first ninja they had killed and was the only member of their party to walk in clear view of anyone who should pass. Kazamachi had been lost the minute they had entered the city, though he was doubtless scrurrying over roof tops, searching dilegently for an Iga to slay.

Okoi snatched Kagerou's sleeve and tugged her around a corner when she heard the slide of an opening shoji. "Good night, Yashamaru-dono," a coy feminine voice laughed, turning to look over her shoulder one last time at her love before pulling the shoji shut behind her.

"Are all Iga women such whores?" Kagerou hissed under her to breath to Okoi, "Meeting with their lovers before they are wed and sneaking away after dark?" she sneered bitterly. Okoi just shrugged and reached to slip out a shurikin, watching in rapt fascination as a white snake slithered out from the girl's sleeve and seemed to whisper in her ear.

The Iga woman suddenly whipped her head around to face the two women crouched in the shadows. She opened her mouth to shout an alarm, but before any sound could leave it a thickly muscled arm shot out of the wall nearest her. The large hand easily palmed the back of her skull. Gyoubu either did not notice or did not care about the tiny fangs that were buried deep into the back of his hand, and he swung his arm around, lifting the tiny girl like she was a doll and crushing her face and head into the wall. The only sound of her death was the thump when her forehead connected with stone and the sickening crunch of her skull.

Gyoubu smirked and stepped out of the wall, just then noticing the small white creature that still clung to his hand, loyally trying to avenge its master's death. "Stupid animal," Gyoubu grunted and shook his wrist forcefully to loosen up the fangs so he could snatch the serpent off his hand and hold it by the throat. He thought for a split second about sparing the animal, then with a shrug constricted his hand snapped the diminuative reptile's neck.

"You should be more careful," he sniggered in the direction of Okoi and Kagerou, "You could have been caught."

"Oh, shut up, Gyoubu," Okoi responded, stepping out of the shadows, Kagerou following.

Gyoubu smirked. "I see that's one for me and one for Saemon, unless he's upped his score since I saw him last, and I have no idea what that sick bastard Kazamachi is doing. May I ask how many you ladies' have killed?"

Both women glowered at him, but before they could offer any kind of smart ass remark in response, Yashamaru, who was curious as to why there was conversation outside his door so late at night opened it to look out. He saw first the three conversing Kouga ninjas, then the gruesome blood stain on the wall and the corpse of Hotarubi's snake. He was torn between heartbreak, outrage, and shock when his eyes fell on her crumpled body, growing blood pool serving as a grizzly halo around her head, matting her black hair. He couldn't find words for what he felt, and only an incoherant snarl left his mouth as he lunged at Gyoubu, the only one of three large enough to have crushed his beloved's skull. His gokujou were already unraveling from around his forearms to slice toward the hulking Kouga.

Kazamachi chose that instant to drop down from his vantage point atop the roof where had been watching with a growing smirk on his face as Gyoubu crushed the Iga girl's face and skull. "Long time no see, Yashamaru-kun," he crooned devilishly at the younger ninja, tongue lapping at his buttom lip just once before hurling a glob of phlegm at the boy. Yashamaru ducked out of its way, only to feel another smack across the side of his face with such a force that it sent him toppling over. He scrambled to get to his feet, but two more quick bullets of the gook trapped his arms to the ground, and despite desperate attempts, Yashamaru could not force his wires through the substance this time around.

Just before the spider ninja could restrain Yashamaru's legs, the threads wrapped around them lashed out slashing across Kazamachi's face and torso, causing the Kouga to howl in pain. Yashamaru didn't bother to bind him like he had before. Instead, he shot the needle like wires toward Kazamachi. They easily punctured his flesh, breaking first through his front and then protruding through his back. Nothing but sputtering gasps could escape the impaled ninja's mouth. Another half a second of struggle freed Yashamaru's hands, and another set of wires added to the first set that were shewered through Kazamachi's body, making a point to pierce through his face and throat. Blood sputtered from the ninja's mouth and dripped down his face. Yashamaru had intented to rip his gokujou straight upwards and shred the spider ninja to guarentee the Kouga died, but a shuriken stabbed into his shoulder, causing him to faulter a little. As he stumbled, he still jerked the wires and they sliced at an awkward angle, but the effect was the same. Kazamachi was definitely dead, if his the way his flayed body collapsed in fleshy strips was any indication.

"You son of a bitch!" Okoi snarled and Gyoubu started to make a lunge for the fallen ninja.

"What the _hell_ do you think you are doing?" an angry, familiar, Kouga voice snarled. Gennosuke was stalking towards them, Hyouga close behind and little to his right, dragging Saemon, who had been reduced to his given face, with one hand. The four other Kouga ninjas did not know how he had learned of their wearabouts, but they were not about to question their clearly infuritated leader. Okoi replaced her suriken on her belt, and Kagerou slipped her knife like hair pin back with the others.

"Gennosuke-sama!" a female voice squeaked. "What is going on?"

Gennosuke whipped around. A panicked Oboro and a characteristically smug Tenzen were hurrying toward them. Koshirou appeared at Oboro's left shoulder as soon as they stopped, and protectively placed himself just slightly in front her, hard eyes locked on Gennosuke. Oboro had probably been informed of the altercation by some unaccounted for witness.

"I'm sure my fellows were merely intending to talk with you about the recent issue of Lord Kunichiyo's death," he gritted out the lie, talking as much to the four guilty ninja standing at his back as to Oboro. "This," he gestured casually at Hotarubi and Kazamachi's dead bodies, "must have some kind of misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding my ass," Yashamaru snarled venomously. "They came here for blood, Oboro-sama."

Oboro's eyes widened, begging without words for Gennosuke to deny the bold accusation.

He did not. "Whatever the cause, we'll just call this an eye for an eye." Again he gestured the two fallen bodies, one Kouga, one Iga. "And we'll be leaving." It was such a struggle to behave so callously, especially when Oboro was clearly distraught. He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and reassure her that everything would be alright, but he had to dump those feelings aside for the greater good of his clan, at least until he could get to Sunpu and have the No Hostilities Pact reinstated.

"Gennosuke-sama, please wait…" Oboro called pointlessly. The Kouga leader simply ignored her and gestured the other five ninjas to follow him out of Tsubagakure.

"We should follow them, Oboro-sama," Tenzen bent and whispered to his leader.

Oboro turned and glared at him with teary eyes. "We will not," she snapped forcefully.

[1 Jasmine has a white flower.

* * *

A/N: Forgive me, but the key words of last chapter's ending author's note were definitely "like that". But no worries, I still don't (and will never) have any intention of pairing Yashamaru with Amaya. 


	4. Flood

A/N: On a usual note, thank you for reading this far; I hope you are enjoying my story. On a not so usual note, I found an insanely large amount of typoes and spelling errors when I reread this and marked it up for editing. I did read it over twice and ran spell checker, yadda yadda, so it should be just fine. I tried really hard to make sure there were as few typoes as possible, and I'm not quite sure what made this chapter so different from the rest. Does anyone else out there have dyslexic days and spell "venom" with the "n" and the "m" switched? That was the biggest thing I noticed. Ugh... sorry that's such a long author's note. Moving on:

Warnings: adult situation, alcohol abuse, mild language, violence

* * *

**Firefly Effect  
Flood**

Yashamaru leaned against the wall of his room, half empty jug of sake hanging limply from his right hand. Had it been full, Yashamaru would have been spilling the jug's contents with the angle at which he was holding the clay container. His small sake cup had been discarded a half hour earlier when drinking from it had lost appeal because it was much easier to drink from the jug. He hadn't intended to come back to his room and drink. In fact, his futon was unrolled, and his blankets were neatly laid across it, but the lure of alcohol to soothe his aching heart was to strong to refuse. Now he found himself a dozen steps from his bed and knew full well if he were to stand to get there he would not make it. He wasn't yet drunk enough to find the comfort of his mattress worth the indignity of crawling, even if no one was around.

This wasn't what Hotarubi would have wanted, a little voice in the back of his head chided. Yashamaru turned his cheek against the wall and closed his eyes, as though trying to block the thoughts out. Hotarubi would have wanted him to track down the hulking brute of a man that had killed her and slay him with the same coldness with which he had killed her. Tears leaked from Yashamaru's eyes and he tried valiantly to hold them in, a useless endeavor. He wanted to avenge her, he really did, wanted to see that oversized Kouga bastard burn in hell for what he had done. But he couldn't find the strength or the heart to do so. Hurt and sadness were foremost on his mind. Anger had taken a back seat. He took a long pull from the sake jug, then let it drop out of his hand with an audible thump. Its contents sloshed like a stormy sea and it wobbled for several moments before falling onto its side. This time a steady cascade of amber liquid poured from the jug's neck. Yashamaru didn't seem to notice the growing stain on the tatumi it caused, and even if he had, he probably wouldn't have cared.

Having found that pointing out that he was acting against Hotarubi's dying wishes was not causing the young ninja enough distress, his mind found a new thought to bother him with. _You're useless to her_, his drunken mind berated, somehow having connected enough arbitrary thoughts to reach that conclusion. _What kind of lover are you? If you couldn't avenge her death? You should have been able to kill that brute Gyoubu right then. _Yashamaru shook his head, not wanting to listen to his berating inner voice, but finding his muddled mind inclined to believe it. "I'm sorry Hotarubi-dono," he slurred, fumbling with one hand to grab the handle of the sake jug and lifted it almost in a toast like gesture. "I have failed you." He brought the now three quarters empty jug to his lips and downed the rest of the contents in several swallows without taking it away from his mouth. He let his arm fall away in an uncontrolled movement, and the jug knocked hard enough against the wooden support that a small crack formed in its surface.

Yashamaru stared blankly at his neatly laid out futon. It seemed to be blurring in and out of focus, or moving further away from him and back, or maybe it was moving from side to side. Either way, Yashamaru was quite certain that it would not lay still long enough for him to climb into it, so he leaned his head back against the wall and let his eyes droop closed. It seemed as though a picture of Hotarubi's face was imprinted on the back of his eyelids, but he wasn't grateful for the image. One instant she would be smiling shyly at him, then quite suddenly her face would contort inexplicably, and he would watch with exaggerated gore as she died. Tears leaked out from under his eyelids, making slow trails down his cheeks, and he shook his head slowly from side to side without lifting it off the wall, trying to urge the images to go away. When they wouldn't, he forced his eyes open again and faced the blurring world in front of him. It seemed he could find solace in neither his mind nor the real world, and he scowled when he came to this conclusion, then reached for the jug of sake. He lifted it to his mouth and finding it empty, tossed it across the room where it shattered. Just as with the sake stain, Yashamaru didn't seem to care.

He leaned his head back against the wall again, this time leaving his eyes open. He ignored the way the ceiling seemed to spin. He wasn't really looking at the ceiling anyway; he was looking through it, heavenward, toward Hotarubi. "I bet it's beautiful where you are, love," he told the ceiling, words melding together pathetically. "I bet the sake never runs out and the rooms don't spin and the furniture doesn't move." He cast a glare at his futon, which still couldn't decide which direction it wanted to go. "I hope you're happy up there." He felt more tears leak from his eyes and he didn't bother to wipe them away. "Because if you're not I'm going to kill the bastard running things." He shook his fist awkwardly toward the ceiling. "You hear that up there? You better be keeping her happy," he threatened. Anyone listening would have found it hard not to snicker at such bold words spoken in such a clearly intoxicated voice.

Quite suddenly, the tears turned to sobs and he dropped his face into his hands. "I know it's selfish of me," he choked out, "But even if you are happy, I want you back, Hotarubi-chan, I miss you." He cried until his hands were so slick with tears that it was hard in his drunken state to keep them pressed against his face. "I wish I could be with you, love," he muttered, a few more wayward tears trickling down his cheeks before he struggled to pull himself upright, bracing himself hard against the wall. Everything moved either toward or away from him and never all together. Even the floor seemed to want to slide out from underneath his feet, but he held himself upright, closing his eyes until some of the dizziness subsided. Then he stepped forward, one hesitant step at a time, gaining coordination with each one as he got used to the whirling world around him.

It was slightly more difficult to open his door, as it seemed that edge of the screen was constantly blurring out of focus, but he did manage to open it. The mild summer night air greeted him and he inhaled deeply before stumbling out it. After all, this would be the last time he would smell something so pretty as summer air. It was a bit of a struggle to find Hotarubi's rooms in the dark while in his inebriated state, but he did finally reach them. He tripped stepping up onto the wrap around porch and toppled over. He couldn't drag himself back to his feet, and pulled himself on his hands and knees to the shoji. With an extreme amount of effort he managed to drag it open from his place on the ground and drag his uncoordinated body through the thresh hold. The room smelled like Hotarubi, he noted with a wistful sigh as he dropped onto her unrolled futon. She must have unrolled it before she went to see him, a momentarily functional part of his brain informed him.

For a moment, he just laid there, splayed across his dead fiancé's bedding, and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, lover," he whispered, reaching with one hand toward the box to the right of the bed and flipping it open. "I know this isn't what you would have wanted either." He smirked bitterly. "It is rather cowardly of me." His fingers closed around a vial, and he lifted it out. "But look on the bright side." He uncorked the tiny container and downed the contents in one gulp. "I'll be joining you shortly." He reached a hand toward the box and lifted out another vial, uncorking and drinking it. Hotarubi had a dozen or so vials of her snake's venom stashed in that box, certainly enough to kill him he decided, fumbling for a third.

Across the way, Oboro sat awake in her rooms, contemplating the events of the evening, when she saw the light of an open shoji. She slid her own door open and peaked out into the night. Her eyes widened in startlement when she saw that it was Hotarubi's room that was alight, and she was even more surprised when she saw a figure moving with in it. Oboro scrambled to her feet, not thinking twice that it might be danger that she was racing to confront. She flung herself into Hotarubi's room. The first thing she saw was the bedraggled, pathetic figure of Yashamaru sprawled across the futon, uncorked vial in his hand. Two empty vials had been dropped carelessly beside him. "Yashamaru-dono!" she shrieked, dropping down next to him and swatting the vial out of his hand. It was easily knocked loose and the fragile glass shattered against the wall. "What are you doing?"

Yashamaru didn't seem to see her. Vacant eyes stared not at her, but through her.

"Yashamaru!" she cried, taking his shoulders in her hands and shaking them as hard as she could, which unfortunately was not with much force. "Yashamaru! Please! Answer me!" she demanded, tears spilling from her eyes when she still didn't get a reaction. With much exertion, she lifted the limp figure up against her, hugging him close and sobbing. "Yashamaru-dono, what have you done?" she choked out.

The screams woke Akeginu from her restless sleep, and when she recognized them as Oboro's she feared the worst. She was relieved when she found the Iga cheiftess uninjured, but it was short lived. Oboro was sobbing into the limp shoulder of a familiar dark haired body.

"Oboro-sama!" Akeginu jerked the girls shoulder just a little to get her attention.

Oboro turned large eyes toward her bodyguard and blinked furiously to hold in tears.

"What happened?"

Oboro sniffled. "He… he drank Hotarubi-dono's snake venom, two… t… two vials of it, I think," she managed, gesturing the empty containers, one of which had been shattered during the commotion. "I… I can't get him to answer me, Akeginu. He won't wake up…" her voice melted away into more tears.

Akeginu bit her lip pensively and reached around check Yashamaru's pulse. It still beat, slightly slower than a normal heartbeat, but not quite enough to be frighteningly alarming; there was still hope. Hotarubi's snake was not the most deadly of creatures. Its venom caused illness, but rarely death with one bite. However, it's venom was not usually ingested, and the amount of venom in the vials from when Hotarubi milked the creature was significantly more than would be released in one brief bite. Especially without Hotarubi to confirm anything, Akeginu could be sure of nothing.

"He's still alive, Oboro-sama," Akeginu comforted, "And his pulse is strong enough. We don't have to worry about him dying just yet."

Oboro turned pleading eyes on her. "But _is_ he going to die, Akeginu-dono?"

Akeginu chewed her lip a little harder. "I don't know…" she trailed. Already more tears had started pool in Oboro's eyes. "I know an apothecary in Sunpu." She paused. If Yashamaru was really dying, then there was no guarantee that he would survive the journey all the way to Sunpu. "If anyone can save him, she can."

"Then we have to go to Sunpu." Oboro realized guiltily that she answered so abruptly because she knew Gennosuke would be in Sunpu seeking information about Lord Kunichiyo's death. She bit her lip and shook the selfish thought aside.

"Oboro-sama, it will be dangerous to travel all the way to Sunpu, and Yashamaru might die on the way," Akeginu reminded.

Oboro set her jaw and stared as defiantly as she could at her confidant, then turned sad eyes to look at Yashamaru, still limp in her arms. "We have to try. We can't let him die like this." A few more tears dropped from her eyes and landed on Yashamaru's cheek.

Akeginu sighed. Oboro was a strong willed girl, despite appearances, and her gentle heart was not going to allow one of her own to die if she could help it. "Very well, Oboro-sama," Akeginu bowed out, "I will start to make the necessary preparations."

Preparations were made hastily. The minimal necessities would be brought, and they were tucked haphazardly into pouches and packs, as Oboro insisted they leave as soon as possible. Pandemonium. That was the only word to describe it, Akeginu decided as she stuffed a kimono into her sack, scowling a little at the realization that it would be wrinkled beyond repair by the time they reached Sunpu and so opted to remove it and refold it. And of course, there was not a chance in hell that just she and Oboro would be allowed to take Yashamaru to the city. Tenzen decided that he, Koshirou, and Nenki would accompany them. This only added to the chaos of assembling packs. Needless to say, watching all of it, Rousai and Jingoro were happy to be staying behind to hold down the fort.

For all the trouble it was causing them, Akane-san better be able to cure Yashamaru.

xxx

"Akeginu," Oboro came up beside the older woman and leaned on the railing to look over the water, "how do you know this apothecary in Sunpu?" Oboro turned to look at her. She had never heard mention of this apothecary before last night.

Akeginu grinned just a little. "Akane-san is a bit of the mad scientist type," she explained.

Oboro's eyes widened a little in barely concealed horror at the thought of sending Yashamaru to a mad scientist, which caused Akeginu to giggle a little and shake her head.

"Don't worry, Oboro-sama, Yashamaru will be in good hands." She paused a moment. "As for how I know Akane-san, she tried for a little while to use my blood in medicines." At this Akeginu sighed and leaned her elbows on the rail and propped her head up in her hands. "It was a useless endeavor unfortunately. Toxic is toxic is toxic, and because at the time Akane wasn't in the business of selling straight up poison, she couldn't do anything with it." She laughed a little. "The woman has changed a little, though, since she started twisting sheets with Shogun Ieyasu. She might want to give it another try."

Oboro's eyes widened evermore and her face flushed at the casual reference to infidelity, again wondering if this Akane that Oboro spoke of could be trusted with Yashamaru's life.

"Forgive me, Oboro-sama, I didn't mean to frighten you," she apologized. "She's a bit of a character, but she's the most reliable apothecary you can find."

xxx

Akane was multitasking in her work room. She had a watering can in one hand and a list of the plants in the other. "_Lactuca tatarica_, better known as blue lettuce is pain reliever and a sedative. It has a variety of uses, namely treating insomnia, anxiety, and hyperactivity. I use it occasionally to treat coughs, too, but minimally. It's too easy and too dangerous to overdose." She turned to look at her daughter who was perched on a stool, leaning on her elbows and watching her mother intently. "Any guesses as to why?"

"It's a sedative?" Amaya wanted to clarify.

"Yes."

"Death by cardiac arrest? It slows the heart rate too much, and it just stops."

Akane nodded, then momentarily gave her complete attention to one of her plants. She studied her belladonna closely, reading the care instructions Takumi had been kind enough to tape to the side of the pot for her. Instead of just pouring water on it as she had her hardier plants, she took the small cup she used for measuring and filled it. She dumped three of these into the soil around the plant then detached the little packet of fertilizer Takumi had supplied her with as well. She reached her fingers into the substance that the herb dealer had assured her would increase her plant's life and took out a pinch, adding it to the mushy soil as well.

"How's it doing?" Amaya asked casually, leaning a little to one side to peer around her mother at the plant.

Akane searched the plant before answering, only finding one wilted leaf. She smiled. "Not too bad," she answered. Finished with the painstaking task of ensuring her precious belladonna's survival, Akane looked back at her list to regale Amaya with the detailed description of another plant.

She was interrupted by knocking on the door.

"One moment, Amaya-chan." Akane set her watering can down on the table and walked out into the outer room where she met with patients and clients.

"Akeginu-chan!" Amaya heard her mother greet someone brightly. "Long time no see! How have you been?"

The response was not so brightly spoken, and significantly quieter, so much so that Amaya couldn't make out what was said.

"Bring him in." Her mother's tone had lost all its previous traces of cheer.

Curiosity piqued, Amaya stood and peeked around the paper fusuma. Akane was unfolding the futon she kept stashed in the closet for the purpose of patients that were unable to stand. Amaya gasped when she saw whom it was for. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, and clutched the frame of the fusuma with a white knuckled grip to refrain from rushing to the unconscious Yashamaru's side.

"Well, what the hell happened to him?" Akane demanded of the staring figures when no one had volunteered the information by the time she had finished situating Yashamaru on the futon.

"He drank snake venom," Akeginu explained. "Two vials."

"I don't suppose any of you thought to bring the snake?" she snapped hurriedly as she checked Yashamaru's pulse. She then peeled his eyelids up and forced his jaw open. She made a little noise, as though taking note of something before untying his kimono. When no one had answered, she glared up at them.

"The snake is dead," Nenki volunteered.

Akane let out a flustered sigh. "It's too much to ask that one of you brought a sample of the venom then, isn't it?"

Guilty stares were all she got in answer from the group crammed into the small room, and she groaned before tugging the kimono off the rest of the way, checking Yashamaru's chest for any kind of breakout or rash, and finding none, she let out a relieved rush of air. "Then I'm going to have to do this the hard way."

"Will he live?" Oboro's small voice squeaked.

Akane's next sigh was extremely exasperated. "Of course he will live. He's not going to enjoy the process of revival, but he'll definitely live."

No one moved after the prognosis was given.

Upon noticing this, Akane sat back on her heels and rested her hands on her thighs. "I don't work with an audience, and you are crowding my workspace." She turned to Akeginu, "I need you to stay in case I need a hand?"

Akeginu nodded. Akane turned to examine the remaining four party members, then pointed arbitrarily at the youngest male among them. "You, stay here, too, because Akeginu is not going to be able to carry him back to your rooms."

Koshirou started a little but nodded.

"The rest of you, shoo." She made the corresponding gesture with her hand at the remaining three. They shuffled out.

"You – " she paused waiting for a name. Koshirou didn't get the hint, but just before the snarky apothecary could snap something to that point, Akeginu intervened.

"Koshirou-dono," she informed her slightly flustered friend. Akane nodded, taking the information in before turning back to Koshirou.

"Just sit over there – " she gestured the opposite wall, just to the right of the storeroom door, " – and stay out of the way."

Koshirou was a tad too shocked by the woman's behavior to protest her rudeness, and did as he was told.

Akane turned to Akeginu. "Due to lack of anything to work with to make an anti-venom, I'm just going to have to do everything possible to purge the venom from his system, which is going to suck for him, but its all I can do."

Akeginu nodded.

"Has he thrown up any since drinking it?"

Akeginu shook her head the negative.

"Damn!" Akane swore loudly. "Really going to have to do this from scratch. Give me one minute." She leaned her head back to look in the direction of her workroom, "Amaya-chan, I need you to bring me hyacinth flowers!"

Amaya had been lost in thought, and the order startled her so much she jumped before rushing back to retrieve several flowers. Her mother's hyacinth was one of the few plants she had kept alive longer than a year. The excessively fragrant flowers were associated with rebirth, and though they had little to no medical use if ingested, her mother had been selling off her hyacinth flower tea saying it would prevent aging.

She handed the light blue branch to Akane who waved it several times under Yashamaru's nose. The comatose patient's eyelids fluttered briefly, before settling open. "Hello there," Akane greeted the dazed boy beneath her, patting his cheek to further rouse him into awareness. Yashamaru for his part just looked stunned. Amaya made a point to dart back into the workroom before he could see her.

"Keep him conscious, Akeginu. It'll be really hard to make him throw up if he's not," Akane mentioned nonchalantly. The prone figure on the futon, though awake was not coherent enough to understand what they were speaking about, so Akane felt no need to euphemize. "I'll be back shortly." She gracefully got to her feet and walked into her workroom, debating what she would need.

She poured a handful of wisteria seeds into her palm and set them on the table. She crushed them to a fine powder with bottom of a bowl before sweeping the dust into the same bowl and adding water. It would taste terrible, but that would only add to the wisteria's nausea inducing capabilities. She brought that as well as a bucket – there for that exact purpose – into the outer room. Akane hoisted Yashamaru up against her chest, holding him in place with an arm around his waist from behind and lifted the bowl to his lips. "I need you to drink this," she informed him.

It took Yashamaru a moment to comprehend the order before his lips closed around the rim of the bowl and sipped at its contents. It took several minutes before he finished, and then Akane laid him back down. As she got back to her feet, she spoke to him. "Now, you're going to feel like hell any minute now. Do me a favor, and throw up in that – " she gestured the bucket, " – and not all over my floor. I charge extra if I have to clean up vomit."

Akeginu's eyes widened a little in surprise at this statement before she realized her friend was kidding. She never was good at understanding Akane's dry sense of humor.

"I'll be back in the work room, if he should have kind of complications," Akane jerked her thumb in the direction of the open fusuma, then sauntered through it.

Amaya watched as her mother collected ingredients she'd never seen her use, nor had she ever had explained to her. Whatever her mother was making was much more complicated than anything Amaya had been taught. Her eyes widened in horror, though, when her mother went to remove a jar from line behind which Amaya had hidden the bowl and pestle she had used to make the jasmine poison. She hadn't gotten a chance alone in the workroom since Kunichiyo's death in which to wash and put them away.

"Huh…" her mother trailed upon finding the materials, "I don't remember leaving these here." Her trained apothecary's nose detected the scent of stale jasmine berries, an ingredient she would most definitely have remembered using and would have been careful to clean the tools the substance had touched, and she turned very slowly toward Amaya. She cast a foreshadowing glare at her and pointedly walked over to shut the fusuma, cutting them off from the outer room. Amaya chewed her lip.

Koshirou's suspicion was roused when the fusuma closed, and he strained his ear on instinct to listen to what was going on inside.

"Amaya," Akane hissed, "were you using jasmine berries for anything in particular?"

Amaya gulped, debating if she could come up with a convincing lie.

When her daughter was silent, Akane moved on to her own theory. "Lord Kunichiyo suffered violent fits of nausea and vomiting before he died, classic symptoms of jasmine poisoning. And you, Amaya-chan, made his medicine that day."

Koshirou's eyes widened as he listened, and he was going to whisper to Akeginu to come listen as well, but the woman was holding Koshirou's shaggy hair out of his face as he lost the contents of his stomach.

Amaya couldn't deny it. "I… I can explain," she stammered.

"I don't want an explanation," Akane snapped. "I don't really give a damn that the little brat's dead, and I don't care why you killed him. What I do care about is how much of a risk you put us at. What if it had been traced back to you? At the best, we could have expected to be kicked out of the castle and tossed onto the streets, my reputation ruined and you without a prayer. At worst, Ieyasu could have had us all killed!"

Amaya stammered, trying to think of an excuse.

"Just shut up," Akane snapped. "And never speak of this again."

Amaya closed her mouth and bowed her head. "Of course." Her mother had no issue with keeping dirty little secrets, skeletons in her closet, or what have you, as long as they didn't get out. She wasn't the most honest of people, and her moral compass didn't point north anymore. As long as she didn't get caught, Akane could very easily turn a blind on the fact that her daughter had murdered the a potential heir to the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Koshirou, on the other hand could not.

Akane mashed, measured, and mixed her ingredients with a little more force than she usually did, and her whole body was tense. She was rethinking the last few days, assuring herself that no one suspected Amaya's transgression. Amaya leaned silently against the wall, hands clasped behind her back, head bowed down.

Koshirou strained his ears further, hoping to hear more, but it was silent except for the furious thumps of the apothecary's tools.

Akane pasted a fake smile on her face just before she re-entered the outer room. She offered the mug of medicine to Yashamaru, who took it with trembling hands. Just to be sure he didn't drop it, Akane braced the bottom with a few fingers. She waited until he had finished it before speaking. "This will cause him to sweat out whatever of the poison is still in his system. Depending on how much is still left, it should take between one and three days. Keep him here until he's completely functional again, and if he starts back into the comatose state he arrived in let me know immediately. It shouldn't happen, but since I don't know anything about your snake…" The rest of the thought was understood, and Akeginu nodded.

"Thank you, Akane-san."

"Eh, don't worry about," the apothecary replied with a grin, all teeth.

Koshirou lifted one of Yashamaru's arms over his shoulders, clasping his wrist tightly in one hand to keep it there. He struggled a little under the slightly larger man's weight before he wrapped an arm around Yashamaru's waist to brace him better. When he was finally settled, he noticed the large eyes of the apothecary's daughter staring at him. He narrowed his eyes at her in a threatening glare. She didn't seem to notice.

"I'm sure Ieyasu has had rooms prepared for you by now," Akane said when neither Koshirou or Akeginu had turned to leave. After Koshirou was out the door and a little ways down the hall with Yashamaru, Akane caught Akeginu's sleeve and dragged her back in. "Drank snake venom?" she questioned in a harsh whisper that was intended for Amaya not to hear. "Did you really expect me not to question that? Was he poisoned?"

Akeginu shook her head sadly and looked at her feet. "He was trying to kill himself. The Kouga attacked three days ago. They think the Iga are responsible for Kunichiyo's death and used it as an excuse to escalate the violence. Yashamaru's fiancé was killed during the attack, and as you can tell, he took it hard."

A little gasp slipped past Amaya's lips, and her eyes widened in multifaceted horror. Her mind couldn't form a coherent thought. She felt familiar waves of guilt induced nausea crash over her, and she barely managed to stay standing against the wooden frame of the fusuma. She needed to get away, to be by herself, to think. Without a word of explanation, she left her mother's shop, every intention of curling up and brooding in her tower. She had no idea that she was being trailed by an infuriated Iga ninja.

Koshirou waited until they entered the uninhabited hallways of Castle Sunpu before announcing his presence. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he snarled.

Amaya whipped around, and found herself staring into frighteningly enraged gray eyes. "Ko… Koshirou-sama?" she struggled briefly to remember his name. "What are you talking about?"

Koshirou stalked closer, and the confused Amaya didn't have the presence of mind to turn and run as he did so. Instead she backed slowly away from him, one step back for each step he took forward until her back was to the wall. She looked from side to side, searching for an escape route, only noticing then that there was a mere eight inches between herself and Koshirou. He leaned forward, one palm pressed against the wall on either side of her head, effectively blocking any chance she might have had of escape. Wild, panicked eyes looked up at him, and suddenly there was a knife point careening toward his face. He snatched her wrist with enough force that she squealed in pain and dropped the weapon before it could do any harm. Koshirou couldn't risk losing control like that again, and with his free hand he caught her about the throat and lifted her against the wall. Her head thunked against the it, and she gasped for air through her constricted wind pipe. Koshirou didn't intend to kill her yet; his grip, though painful, wasn't going to strangle her. Amaya jerked her captive hand free and clawed at his hands, trying to loosen their grip on her neck and failing. All the struggle did was cause her kimono sleeves to fall and reveal the other knife. Koshirou reached with one hand and unhook it, tossing it casually to the ground so there was no way the girl could access it. She kicked her legs out at him, a useless endeavor because Koshirou could stand out of reach of any forceful blow and still hold her against the wall.

"What…" Amaya gasped for air, "do you want?"

"This is all your fault!" he snapped at her.

Confused eyes were his only answer.

He lifted her off the wall just slightly, then slammed her back against it, causing Amaya yelp. "It's your fault Hotarubi is dead, and it's your fault that Yashamaru almost died!" he accused.

Amaya could deny not a word of it. Tears leaked from her eyes, and she furiously tried to blink them back. She wanted to nod in agreement with him, but the grip around her throat would allow for no such movement. "I…" her voice was hoarse, and she wasn't even sure he could hear her, "I… I'm so… sorry," she choked out.

Koshirou hadn't heard her, only saw the slight gape of her mouth as she struggled to take in air, and continued. "And before I kill you – " he leaned forward in a slightly risky move so his nose was inches from hers " – I want to know why."

More tears strained from Amaya's eyes. Her motive was both selfish and futile, not something she really wanted to admit to, which was fine because Koshirou didn't really seem to have any intention of letting her answer anyway.

"Were you _trying_ to tarnish the Iga's reputation?"

Already large eyes widened in horror at such a suggestion, and Amaya shook her head as furiously as she could in his grasp.

Koshirou snorted. "Or maybe you're for hire. Who paid you to kill Kunichiyo? You should really tell me," he hissed, "I might spare you and kill them instead."

Amaya wouldn't have been inclined to believe him even if she had had a name to offer.

"Okoi-dono, I think we have already been down this hallway," Kagerou suggested calmly, though her fellow Kouga was seething.

"Why the hell do these goddamn castles halls have to be so damn hard to navigate?" she snarled, completely ignoring Kagerou. "I mean seriously – " she cut off abruptly when she saw the scene at the end of the wall. "Kagerou, look!" she pointed ahead and then had suddenly darted down the rest of the length of the hall until she was mere feet from Koshirou. "Let her go, Iga," she snarled menacingly.

Koshirou glanced over his shoulder at the seething kunoichi. The woman was already braced on the balls of her feet, waiting for a fight. "Stay out of this, Kouga," he snapped back, turning back to face the girl.

"I told you to – "

"Okoi, get down!"

The woman squatted down just as five razor sharp pins zipped over her head. It felt like slow motion to Amaya, as she watched the thin blades cut across Koshirou's face, leaving five parallel gashes in their wake, blood slowly starting to seep from them. A line of blood seemed to split across each of his eyes, and then the world was in real time. Koshirou suddenly dropped her, and his hands flew to his face, blood dripping between his fingers as he howled in agony. Okoi took advantage of the moment and fell on top of him. Her hand wrapped around his throat, every intention of draining him dry.

Kagerou dropped to her knees beside the girl. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Amaya stared dumbly at the writhing Koshirou and didn't answer. Kagerou reached to wrap her arms around her and tug the girl against her chest. "You shouldn't watch that," she informed gently.

Amaya didn't know what was going on, but she was certain that if it was allowed to continue the woman would kill Koshirou. She tour free of Kagerou's arms and flung herself at Okoi. "No! Stop! You'll kill him!" The weight of her body startled the kunoichi and she toppled to one side, off the fallen Koshirou. "Koshirou!" she yelled at him, shaking his shoulders. "Koshirou! Koshirou, wake up!"

Okoi and Kagerou were left to just stare at her, confusion evident on their faces.

Amaya wrapped her arms around the unconscious ninja's shoulder and sobbed into his chest. She could feel the faintest traces of a heartbeat within. "Please don't die," she cried. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I never meant for anyone to die. Please, don't you die too."

xxx

Akeginu sat back after finishing wrapping the bandages around Koshirou's face. He had refused to let Akane see him, which confused Akeginu, but she didn't question him. If one could exclude the fact that he would likely never see again, Koshirou's injuries weren't severe, though they would scar, and Okoi had not drained enough blood to be fatal.

"She killed him, Akeginu," Koshirou said coldly.

"What?" Akeginu was more than a little confused.

"Akane's daughter," Koshirou clarified. "She poisoned Lord Kunichiyo.""

* * *

Thanks for reading!  
Would absolutely love to know what you think about it. 


	5. Monsoon

A/N: First, I have an apology to make. I just watched the fifth DVD in the series and learned that Kunichiyo and Takechiyo do not in fact live anywhere near Sunpu. So, there's a bit of setting error there... please overlook it for me. I'm really sorry. Secondly, I'm having a bit of struggle getting these chapters out lately, especially this one and the last one, hopefully it doesn't show? Either way, I think it's probably a good thing I'm taking a little break from this for a week while I'm up in MD for music stuff. When I get back, I'm sure I will be able to write with renewed fervor! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you're enjoying my story!

Warnings: adult references, adult situations, violence, language

* * *

**Firefly Effect  
Monsoon**

Amaya tugged the neck of her kimono up, but short of dragging the fabric all the way to her chin, there was no way for her to cover the bruises. She examined her reflection in the steel table in her mother's workroom. The piece of furniture had been an outrageously expensive import, but Akane had insisted that she needed something that would resist the abuse of her knives and other tools. It was also the only reflective surface in Amaya's family's quarters. Amaya tilted her head back to get a better look at the five finger shaped bruises that were just starting to form. She winced seeing the nasty shade of purplish red they had already taken; they would only look worse in the following days. She ran her fingers over the bruised handprint and hissed a little in pain. The bruising would make it hard to sleep for the next several nights as well, it appeared.

"Amaya-chan, what are you doing in here?"

Amaya whipped around, tugging her kimono up in the same motion. Her mother stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, angry expression set on her face.

"J… Just looking for the bath salts," she lied, hand still clutching the neckline of her kimono tightly.

Akane quirked a suspicious eyebrow up at her and lifted a wire mesh container from a shelf within arms reach of her. "Of course you were." The phrase dripped sarcasm. Akane extended her arm to offer the container to her daughter. Without thinking, Amaya dropped her kimono and reached out with her right hand for the small basket. "Amaya-chan!" Akane blurted, immediately seeing the bruising, "What did you do?"

"N… nothing," she stammered. "I… I just… just fell!"

This time both Akane's eyebrows went up, but she didn't question. Instead she turned and searched her shelves of pre-made mixtures; things that were always in demand and so the apothecary always had some easily on hand. She lifted a tub off the shelf and handed it to her daughter, face completely blank. "Here, when you take your bath, spread this on the bruises and let it sit for a while. It will help the swelling go down and ease the pain a little."

Amaya stared at her mother with wide shocked eyes and took the container, balancing it under arm so she could still keep one hand free to hold her kimono over the bruising. She couldn't have anyone else seeing it and getting suspicious. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Akane rolled her eyes. "Don't thank me. I'm your mother. What less could I do?"

Amaya downcast her eyes, not having an answer to this, and slipped out. That imaginary bath was starting to have a lot of appeal. Instead of making her way to her tower like she had planned, Amaya took an alternate route to the common bath house off to the right of Castle Sunpu's complex.

She was glad the bath house was empty when she arrived. None of the castle's women would openly question or even show concern about Amaya's injuries, but they would most definitely whisper and speculate behind her back. _I bet one of her lovers did that to her; erotic asphyxiation I hear it's called_, Amaya could just hear the rumors that would have circulated the castle in less than a day's time if she were to be seen. And it most certainly wouldn't help that she was the daughter of Akane, resident whore of Castle Sunpu as she was known. _Like mother like daughter_, would most likely be right on the heals on the first accusation. She sneered at the thought as she slowly lowered herself into the water. Once she was used to the temperature, she reached her arm back to get the bath salts and sprinkled just enough for a faint relaxing scent to permeate the air. She replaced that container and unscrewed the lid on the bruise balm. She grimaced at the consistency of the substance as she scooped out a glob with her fingers and carefully spread it around her injured throat. It had a numbing effect, and Amaya let her eyes droop closed and her head loll back onto the edge of the tub. The healing substance spread, she dipped her hand under the water to rinse the rest away. She scowled just a little with her eyes still closed when she needed to use the other hand so she could dig out what of the goo had gotten stuck under her fingernails.

Amaya stopped in mid motion when she felt a hand tangle in her hair none to gently and yank her head back further. Her eyes flew open when she felt the cool steal of a knife against her throat, and she found herself staring up into narrowed red eyes.

"I hear you took the liberty of killing Lord Kunichiyo."

Amaya's eyes widened and she immediately recognized the woman from earlier that day. She was one of the Iga ninja that had brought Yashamaru to Sunpu. Amaya nodded just slightly, careful not to make contact with the knife at her throat.

"Do you have idea what pains you have caused the Iga in doing so?"

Tears had begun to leak down Amaya's face, not from pain, but guilt, and she closed her eyes in shame, unsure how to answer. Yes, she understood that she was held accountable for Yashamaru's fiancé's death and his attempted suicide, but did she understand the true hurt the Iga had suffered? Not at all.

"It is your fault that Hotarubi-dono is dead, and thus also your fault that Yashamaru tried to take his own life! Not to mention the damage you have done to the Iga's reputation! We are not underhanded conspirators who kill _children_ to settle our disputes!" she snarled, sending Amaya into a fit of sobs.

When it was put in front of her like that, Amaya realized that she deserved the death the Iga wanted to give her. "I'm sorry," she struggled to get out through her tears and with her throat bent at such an awkward angle.

Akeginu was going to snap something about how she should be, but the girl continued.

"And you may kill me." She closed her eyes a moment, like she was coming to terms with the idea, and then they reopened them. "Because I understand I deserve such. Just… before you do, I have a question."

Akeginu was more than a little startled, and so let the girl continue.

"That you know that I poisoned Kunichiyo, does it mean that Koshirou-sama is still alive?"

Akeginu was completely floored by the question. "He… He's blind now, but yes, he is alive."

Amaya's face contorted in a bit of a frown. "Tell him I'm sorry he suffered such terrible injury on my account." Her eyes drifted closed, as though she was ready, then suddenly, they flew open again. She'd remembered something important she needed to say. "And… and tell Yashamaru- sama that I'm sorry… so sorry about his fiancé…" At this more tears started to spring from her eyes. "I… I never meant for anyone to die…" Her words dissolved into tears, and she tilted her head back a little further, eyes squinting shut, body tensing in preparation.

For a blow that never came. Akeginu sat back on her heals, and rested her knife on her thighs, hands atop it. Very slowly, one at a time, Amaya opened her eyes. There were no longer an angry set staring back at her. She lifted her head up off the side of the pool and turned around to face her assailant. The older woman's head was bowed and staring at the knife in her lap.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Amaya hazarded the question.

Akeginu looked up and met the girl's large, confused hazel eyes with her own. "Amaya-san, you are an anomaly." She laughed a little, though the sound was humorless. "You killed a child, barely out of its mother's arms if I recall Lord Kunichiyo correctly, and yet you express such deep remorse over the death of Hotarubi-dono, a woman you have never met; Koshirou-dono's loss of vision even though he tried to kill you; and Yashamaru-dono's attempted suicide, and you knew him neither."

Amaya smirked, another humorless expression to match Akeginu's. "Aah, and that is where you are wrong."

Akeginu started. "You knew Yashamaru?"

Amaya nodded and bit her lip. "We met the day before Shogun Ieyasu's perverted demonstration. I didn't know he was engaged to be married at the time." Amaya tilted her head back and stared up at the wooden panels of the ceiling and snickered bitterly. "If I'd've known he was engaged, I don't think any of this would have happened. How selfish of me."

Akeginu was confused. "Amaya-san, what are you talking about?"

"He swept me off my feet, and I don't think he had any idea that he did." Amaya scowled down at her reflection in the water, as though somehow everything could be blamed on it. "Now that I look back on it all, nothing he ever did was anything more than platonic." She shook her head. "How foolish I was to think his bold personality and common courtesy were any kind of courtship."

"Amaya-san," Akeginu craned her head a little to look at the girl's face. "Amaya-san," she repeated the name to get the girl's attention, and her head immediately snapped up. "I still do not understand."

Amaya quirked a bitter smile and cocked her head to one side in a slightly dazed expression. "I suppose I thought I was in love with him, though in reality it was more like an infatuation." She paused a moment and bit down on her lip. "When he told me that Shogun Ieyasu was pitting the clans against each other to decide next heir, I was enraged, and I still can't believe that pig would show such blatant disrespect for human life," she spat vehemently. The anger in her tone was the first emotion since regret and sorrow Amaya had shown.

Akeginu couldn't believe the girl could show such blatant disrespect for the Shogun.

Amaya continued. "I knew the competition, war, whatever you want to call the bloodbath Ieyasu wanted to start, would kill Yashamaru. I didn't want him to die, and I decided that I had to stop it, stop all of it before it could even begin." She bowed her head shamefully. "When I heard that Kunichiyo was sick and was getting medicine from my mother, I saw the perfect opportunity. A few jasmine berries in Kunichiyo's cough medicine and that was the end of it; no more issue of who would be heir." She broke down in tears again and thrust her fist into the water in frustration, causing it to splash up into her face. It took her a moment to rub the water from her eyes and splutter it from her mouth before she could continue. "It was all supposed to be over after that," she gritted out. "No more people were supposed to die. It was supposed to be the sacrifice of Kunichiyo's life for the sake of the Kouga and the Iga and anyone who might be caught in between." Amaya was again reduced to sobbing. "No one was supposed to die. I never wanted anyone to die. I just… just thought I could save him…" Her words trailed again into great gasping sobs.

Abruptly, she ceased sobbing and set her jaw, though silent tears still trickled down her cheeks. "Akeginu-sama," Amaya looked at the woman with defiant eyes that seemed out of place in combination with her tears, "Before you kill me, let me try to make things right. I think I can fix all of this."

Akeginu's eyebrows shot up. "Fix it?"

"Well… not fix it, per say. Call it damage control. Give me a chance, Akeginu-sama. No more lives will be lost on my account." Amaya knew that wasn't quite true, but it would serve her purposes here.

Akeginu stared at Amaya with unconcealed shock. The girl hadn't realized that if Akeginu had really still intended to kill her, she would already be dead, but now the kunoichi was intrigued, and so did not mention as much to the determined young woman standing in the water, fists clenched at her sides. "Okay, Amaya-san, I will you give a second chance." She managed a smirk to accompany the statement to make it a little more convincing.

Amaya beamed. "Thank you, Akeginu-sama."

Akeginu offered her a hand to help her out of the water. "Koshirou got you good," she reached to touch the bruised skin of Amaya's neck. The girl flinched back. "I need to teach him to be gentler with the softer sex." Amaya just shrugged her kimono back on.

She just stood for a moment with her back to Akeginu, then as she reached for her obi, spoke, biting her lip just before she did so. "Akeginu-sama, how is Yashamaru-sama?"

"Uncomfortable, but recovering well." Akeginu waited patiently for the inevitable next question, and the guilt ridden answer it would hold for Amaya.

The girl chewed her lip with a little more force and stared at her toes. "And Koshirou-sama?"

Akeginu sighed. "Blind, bandaged, and in a lot of pain," she answered.

Amaya visibly started.

"He refuses to see your mother about any of his injuries. I'm afraid… afraid he does not trust you or her."

A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of Amaya's mouth where her teeth had broken the skin. Akeginu reached and brushed the trail away, effectively startling Amaya enough to release her abused bottom lip. "You shouldn't do that." Akeginu was now close enough to see the soar on the corner of Amaya's mouth. "It'll never heal."

Amaya stepped back, out of the Iga woman's reach, more than a little confused by Akeginu's behavior. One minute the woman had been trying to kill her; the next she was treating her much the same as her mother did. "I… I should really be going," Amaya stammered, distrust clear in her wide hazel eyes.

Akeginu watched her go, hiding her smile behind her kimono sleeve just in case the girl looked back. Amaya-san really had no idea that her explanation had saved her, but Akeginu was not about to tell the girl as much and kill her fervor. There was a fire buried in those big sad eyes, and only little sparks were showing. Akane's daughter was much stronger than she herself or anyone else gave her credit for. And Akeginu would not deny that she was curious what the little apothecary planned to do to correct her mistake.

xxx

Koshirou's jaw was clenched; the muscles of his shoulders and forearms were clearly defined; and beneath the thin cover, Akeginu could see his hands balled into fists. It was taking all his effort not to just howl in agony. His eyes burned. He was so tense that when someone rapped tentatively on the door he started, the slight jostle of his head only causing him more pain. He bared his teeth and hissed out through them, but other than that he made no sound to give away that he was hurting. Slowly he lifted himself onto his forearms, intending to get the door.

"Koshirou-dono," Akeginu laid a hand on his shoulder to cease the movement. "I will get it. Stay." The hand was lifted away and Koshirou could hear her footfalls as she walked to get the door, followed by the slight scraping of the fusuma's frame on the wood floor.

"Amaya-san!" Akeginu blurted, a tad shocked to see the young woman so soon.

Amaya bowed politely, carefully balancing a little pot in her hands. "You said Koshirou-sama was in a great deal of pain."

Akeginu quickly connected the dots and realized what Amaya must have in her hands. She nodded.

"It's nothing elaborate, because I understand that Koshirou-sama is hesitant to trust me, rightfully so, I am unfortunate to admit. This is just passion flower nectar mixed with a fine powder of white poppy. It should ease the pain and help him sleep."

Koshirou seethed where he lay. "I thought she was dead, Akeginu," he snarled as best he could through the pain.

Amaya squinted her eyes shut and bowed a little further hearing the anger in his tone.

Akeginu looked over her shoulder at the bedridden Iga ninja, then back at Amaya, wondering if this was her damage control of the situation and feeling her heart sink a little at the thought. Maybe she had over estimated the girl.

"I'm giving her a second chance, Koshirou-dono," Akeginu answered calmly. "If you wish, we can talk about it after she leaves."

"She's leaving now, Akeginu-dono."

Amaya winced. "Please, Koshirou-sama, you should take this. Akeginu-sama said you were in pain…"

"I am fine," he snapped, startling Amaya so much she nearly dropped her pot. In her fumbling to balance it, she lifted her head and caught the way Koshirou gritted his teeth right after he spoke, a tell tale sign of agony.

Amaya brushed past Akeginu and knelt beside Koshirou, carefully setting the pot behind her a ways and slightly to her right where it was the least likely to be spilled. She reached a tentative hand out to touch his shoulder. As she expected the muscles were tight. She brushed her fingertips along his jaw line. "This tense, and you expect me to believe you're not in pain?" Amaya questioned boldly.

The identity of the person touching him finally revealed, Koshirou's hand snatched the speaker's wrist.

Amaya yelped at the bruising grip on her forearm.

"What? No knives today, Amaya?" Koshirou sneered.

Amaya wanted to jerk her arm free, but she remained still, clenching her own teeth against the pain of Koshirou's grip. They were at a standstill. "You're hurting me," Amaya bit out, as though it would be of any use.

"If I could see you," Koshirou snarled, "I'd be killing you."

Akeginu watched the exchange leerily and lifted Amaya's pot, opening it and finding a pinkish liquid inside. It was the color of passion flower nectar. She lifted it to her lips and sipped just a tiny amount to taste it. It tasted like passion flower nectar, with a slightly grainy texture as though something was mixed in, which must have been the poppy.

"Let her go, Koshirou-dono. She did not come here to kill you. I have tasted the medicine she brought." She capped the pot with a tad bit of force so Koshirou could hear the action. "It is what she says it is, and you are in pain. Let her try."

Amaya turned pleading on eyes on Koshirou, even though he couldn't see them. The fingers around her wrist tightened enough that Amaya was afraid the bones would crack, but then Koshirou released his grip completely. She just barely resisted the urge to scramble back away from him. Instead, Amaya reached under his shoulders and tried to lift him.

If Koshirou could have glared at her, he would have, as he lifted himself to an upright position with ease, only to find that as soon as he was upright, his head swam. Even though he could not see it, the room felt like it was spinning. He could feel himself falling backwards, and braced himself for the painful connection with the floor. Instead he fell against a soft body that made a quiet "oomph" sound when it caught him.

Koshirou's full weight against her chest nearly knocked the wind out of Amaya, and it was bit of a struggle to keep herself from toppling over with him. Akeginu handed her the jar. Amaya flicked the lid off with her thumb and reached around to rest the rim against Koshirou's bottom lip, her hand wrapped tightly around the container incase the bitter ninja decided to try and knock it from her hands. She was a little startled when Koshirou moved to take the rim of the little pot in his mouth and accidentally mouthed her thumb in the process. She immediately shifted the digit further down the ceramic side.

Koshirou sipped at the drink tentatively, clearly searching the taste for poisons.

"Koshirou-sama," Amaya whispered after several moments of silence. "I'm so sorry about your eyes, and I'm sorry about the damage I have done to your clan's reputation. I want you to know, I never meant for anyone to die. I…" she found herself choking on tears, "I killed Kunichiyo to stop the war between the Kouga and the Iga. It was naive of me…" she bit her lip, hoping for a response.

She got none. Koshirou continued to sip the contents of the little pot, as if he was ignoring her. He touched her hand to tilt the cup a little when she didn't realize he had reached the dregs, then drank them in one gulp. Amaya set the little container aside, and just before she stood, leaned forward to speak in Koshirou's ear. "I'm going to fix it, Koshirou-sama. Just let me fix what I've done, and if you still feel the desire to kill me afterwards, then I will let you."

The cold air of the room was a stark contrast to the warmth of Amaya's body against his back, Koshirou found himself thinking a bit disconcertingly. He heard the slide of the fusuma opening. "Goodbye, Akeginu-sama, Koshirou-sama. Please let me know if he wants more of the medicine," she offered, tone tinged with hope. Her voice was followed by the slide and slight thunk of the fusuma being shut.

"You should have been kinder to her," Akeginu chided. "She only wants to help, and you have no idea what kind of guilt trip she's put herself through over all this."

"Hnn," was Koshirou's noncommittal response.

Akeginu just sighed.

xxx

Amaya had to hurry if she was going to complete her next task before nightfall. It had to be done before Shogun Ieyasu went to bed that night, and also risked another trip into her mother's work room. This time she knew exactly what she wanted immediately. Blue lettuce was already a primary ingredient in Ieyasu's medicine. It would not surprise him if she were to make a blue lettuce tea with four or five times his dosage in it, easily enough to kill him. In fact, that was all Amaya did. She poured a large amount of sap from her mother's bottle into a tea pot, added water, and boiled it, knowing it would be cool enough to drink by the time she got to Ieyasu's rooms.

There was another matter to attend to as well. Amaya's disheveled hair and less than pristine kimono would not have her desired effect on the lecherous Shogun. She untied her obi on her way to her room and dropped her kimono and it on the floor as soon as she reached it. She dove for her closet and removed a box that she hadn't opened in nearly a year. She carefully withdrew the navy blue kimono with silver flower detailing and slid it on, then with practiced hands tied the burgundy obi that she thought matched it best around her waist, then quickly strapped her knives onto her forearms. She simply let her hair down, hurriedly brushing it smooth. She debated make up for half a second and decided she didn't have the time. The sun had set nearly an hour earlier and Ieyasu would be retiring to his chambers too soon.

Amaya rushed back to her mother's workroom, checked her reflection the table and snatched the kettle in the same motion, and darted out of her families quarters. Once she reached the more public hallways of the Castle in which servants were still hurrying about, she slowed to a much more graceful walk, not wanting to rouse suspicion.

Amaya shakily let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding when she reached the door of Shogun Ieyasu's office. She inhaled deeply again, then let the air out slowly in an attempt to calm herself before she tapped as quietly as she could on the large wooden double doors and still be heard. The doors were huge, and they were only doors like this in the castle. She heard the rattling of the tumbler and the creak of the wood as it strained against the handles before allowing itself to be dragged.

Amaya bowed her head shyly to whoever answered.

"Why hello there," a familiar voice greeted.

Amaya smirked triumphantly, knowing the expression was hidden by her bowed head and loose hair. "Good evening, Shogun Ieyasu," she replied quietly, just the right amount of shyness laced into the words.

"What brings a little lady like yourself here so late?" he asked. Before she could answer, he reached out and cupped her chin in his hand to lift it up. Amaya just barely resisted the urge to grimace at the touch of the wrinkled hand. She almost tour away from him when he felt his fingertips brush her throat. The contact was not accidental. "Look at me when you talk, child, so I can see that pretty face."

Amaya stared at him with wide innocent eyes, and bit just the corner of her lip in a bashful expression.

"Now, let's try this again. What brings you here?"

"Akane-sama sent me with a pot of herbal tea for you," she explained, starting to bow her head again. As predicted, Ieyasu caught her chin in the same manner as before.

"No need to be shy, little lady," he assured with a large grin.

Amaya managed a timid grin back.

"Would you like to come in?" he offered, taking the pot from her and stepping aside so she could see into the lavish room.

Amaya managed a small blush in an appropriate reaction. "Uhm… I don't know, Ieyasu-dono… It is getting rather late," she stuttered out cutely, chewing her lip a little harder for more effect.

"Now, now, don't do that." Ieyasu had grown quite comfortable touching her face, and he reached out again, brushing his thumb over her lips. Amaya wanted to bite down on the digit so the Shogun jerked it back and howled in pain. She didn't see that getting her in the door, though. "It's not really that late. It's not like you have anyplace better to be, now do you?"

Amaya stared at her toes, despite the hand still holding her jaw, that she really wished would let go. "No…" she trailed, "I suppose not."

"Good!" Ieyasu smiled toothily at her. "Come right in."

There was already a zabuton at the table for her, and she gracefully lowered herself onto her knees upon it. She laid her hands lady like in her lap, one over the other, and stared down the table.

"What did I say about hiding that pretty face?" Ieyasu reached to lift it again. Amaya made a mental note to scrub her face raw before she went to bed. "Would you like some?" he asked, taking down two tea cups from a cabinet.

Amaya's eyes widened in a horrified expression that she was glad Ieyasu had his back turned for, before she came to an appropriate excuse. "Oh, no thank you. The dosage of medicine in there is much too much for a girl of my size."

"Ah, that's too bad." Ieyasu sat down at the table across from her. "Akane makes a wonderful herbal tea."

Amaya bit her lip in trepidation. She hadn't considered taste at all when making her concoction.

"Hmm," Ieyasu smacked his lips, "That's a new flavor, what does Akane call it?"

"She didn't say, Shogun Ieyasu. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." He patted her cheek, then finished the cup and poured himself another before speaking again. "What's your name?"

Amaya realized then that she could not give her own name, and she blurted the first woman's name that came to mind, slightly modified. "Hotaru," she answered.

Ieyasu nodded. "Are you new to palace work, Hotaru-chan?"

Amaya just refrained from flinching at the use of the diminutive honorific before she nodded.

"Are you Akane-san's apprentice?"

Amaya was a tad surprised that Ieyasu didn't recognized her at all, but she could use his surprise later to her advantage. She nodded yes in answer to his question.

"That's a pretty fancy kimono for a new apprentice to have already earned," he stated casually, and for just a moment, Amaya thought she might have been caught, but the Shogun's relaxed posture revealed nothing of suspicion.

Amaya blushed as darkly as she forcibly could. "Akane-sama said I should look my best when delivering to the Shogun." She stared shyly at the table, then snapped her head back up to look him in the face, as though she had just remembered that he preferred her to look at him. In reality, it was Amaya's way of avoiding another molesting caress. "She's loaning the kimono to me, just for tonight," she answered quietly.

"Well, you do look very lovely in it."

"Thank you, very much, Shogun Ieyasu." Amaya ducked and lifted her head in a little bow of gratitude. Her act was starting to make her sick, even if she was pulling it off well.

"You should come visit me more often. I often have some of the finest kimono makers in the country here. I would love to see you in one of their designs."

_You mean you would love to see me _not_ in one of their designs_, Amaya thought, but kept the idea and the facial expression attached to it inside. "That would be most amazing," she replied.

Ieyasu was staring at her with unconcealed lust. She'd done her job, and now all that was left was the final touches. "Oh! Your tea cup is empty!" she noticed with mortified shock. "Here, let me pour you another." She reached across the table.

Ieyasu caught her wrist. "Nonsense, I've already had five. There's no need for another just yet."

Amaya knew that. She had been counting. Five was definitely enough to kill him.

"My, my, what soft hands you have." He didn't let her forearm free, and instead, reached with his other hand to caress her palm.

Amaya was fighting all her instincts to resist jerking her hand back.

She nearly threw up when she felt his mouth suckling her fingers. After several moments he lifted his mouth away. Part of Amaya thought she should cut off that hand once this was all said and done. "I think we should take this to my inner chambers."

"I think not," Amaya's actual personality slipped out and she tugged her hand back. "I… I mean," she stammered, "May I ask you something first?"

Amaya could think of a dozen and one innocent virgin questions that would have the Shogun Ieyasu drooling at her feet, and her demure expression prepared him for one, but she was done toying with Ieyasu and was ready to get down to business. In the same shy voice she had used all evening, she asked, "Would you name me heir upon your death?"

Ieyasu stared dumbly at her for a split second before he began to laugh hysterically. Maybe if all he had done was laugh, Amaya's reaction would have been a little less violent, but the lecherous pig couldn't just laugh, he had to speak, too. "You? Shogun? Like you have the brains to run a government in that pretty little head of yours. Whatever made you ask such a thing, Hotaru-chan?"

"Somehow, I thought your reaction would be a little like that," Amaya snarled. "And that's why I brought a back up plan." She unhooked the knife on her right forearm, and it dropped into her palm. She lunged over the table, and collided with Ieyasu with enough force to knock him over. Amaya could barely stay straddled over the large man's stomach, and he could have easily bucked her off, but he wouldn't, not with a knife pressed against his throat tight enough that it drew blood.

"Who… who the hell are you?" he stammered.

"Aw, come on, Dad, don't you recognize me?"

Suddenly Ieyasu's eyes widened in horrified recognition.

Amaya grinned devilishly. "Which one makes you sicker, Ieyasu? That you wanted to sleep with your daughter? Or that she's got a knife to your throat?"

Ieyasu started to stammer. "S… stop this, please. I… I'll give you anything you want."

Amaya pouted just a little. "That was no fun. You're a pushover, Ieyasu. You know exactly what I want."

"No! I can't give you that. Technically my… my son, your brother…"

"Half brother, you ass!" she spat in his face.

"Your half-brother! He's Shogun! You knew that! I'm the retired Shogun. I can't decide that!"

"Don't shit with me, Ieyasu! You and I both know you have the power to name me heir!" She leaned down to whisper hotly in his ear, "After all, you had the power to pit the Kouga and Iga against each other to decide the heir for you."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has to do with you being a sick bastard who doesn't deserve to live because he was going to start a blood bath!" Amaya snarled and dug the knife a little further. There were enough rolls of fat on Ieyasu's neck that she could push for quite a while before she actually caused damage. "But that wasn't what we were talking about, now was it? Oh yes, that's right, you were naming me heir."

"It…it wouldn't matter if I named you heir," he stammered, "You would still have to wait for Hidetada to retire or die!"

Amaya threw her head back and laughed. "Do you think I haven't thought of that? That's why, daddy dearest, you name me heir upon _your_ death. Understand yet? Because I'm quite sure you'll be dying long before brother Hidetada." She leaned down again to whisper in his ear. "I know you have the power to do that. You're son is a bigger fucking pushover than you if he's still letting you run things. He'd never question your word." Amaya sat back. "Besides, if it makes you feel any better, you'll always know that it's still _your_ blood sitting on the throne, huh, Ieyasu?"

The Shogun swallowed hard.

Amaya slapped him across the face. "Well, out with it! Are you going to name me heir upon your death, or am I putting this knife through your throat and watching the pretty red water works as all the blood in your body spurts through a little hole in your pudge?"

"Okay, okay, fine."

Amaya smiled, all teeth in a less than friendly facial expression. "Now you're talking." She stood and let him stand, then lead him at knife point to his desk and into his chair. "Mmm, expensive," Amaya admired the imported woodwork. "Europe I'm guessing? I absolutely love it." She leaned around the chair and wrapped her right arm around his neck to press the blade against his throat again. "Uh uh uh, head up. I want to watch to make sure you write it right."

When he finished, Amaya let up with her knife a little. "Very good. Now go sit your ass at the table and have another cup of tea."

"But… but why?"

Amaya rolled her eyes and poked him in the back with her knife when he stopped moving. "Is because I said so still not good enough for you, Ieyasu?" She sighed. "Fine. It's to hasten up the effects of that blue lettuce overdose. Your heart should already feel like it's struggling to beat."

Ieyasu turned frightened eyes on her, and she smirked, again all teeth. "Yup, father mine, that's what that feeling is. You limbs getting sluggish, your eyes can't quite stay open, your heart struggling to pound. Blue lettuce. Now, sit down and have another cup, get this over sooner rather than later, because I just realized I can't leave until you're dead. You might rip up that ever-so-important will of yours, and I can't very well slit your throat. That might look suspicious." She wrinkled her nose.

The gaping Ieyasu was too humiliated to care anymore. He did in fact pour himself more tea, two cups, and downed them both. The last words he heard Amaya speak were less than heartening. "I'll be sure to tell those kimono makers you said bye," followed by a sniggering giggle.

Amaya didn't go to her rooms after Ieyasu died. Instead she returned to the bath house. This time, she was not slow in lowering herself into the steaming water. She plunged her whole body into the hot liquid, feeling it pleasantly burn her skin. It took a mere second for Amaya to get used to the searing temperature before she ducked her head under the water. She ran her hands through her sopping hair to push excess water out as she came back up. The next task was to furiously scrub her face, hands, and thighs. She felt faint when she thought of how closely she had pressed herself against the Shogun. Her stomach lurched a tiny bit, and to fight off the urge to vomit, Amaya bent a little so her face was in the water and she could scrub it furiously with the cloth. This man was a monster and a tyrant, and Amaya felt very little remorse for his death, but she was disgusted by the means she had used to deceive and kill him. She washed her arms with enough force that they were red with abuse when she drew the cloth away. Amaya didn't seem to notice. She washed the rest of her body with the same force and soaked away whatever traces of Ieyasu might have remained on her skin until her finger tips and toes were wrinkled. Only when Amaya was nearly dizzy with high temperature did she deem herself clean enough to leave. It was late, so she scurried back to her room wrapped loosely in a towel, carrying her kimono, obi, and knives. She would debate in the morning whether or not to burn the tarnished articles of clothing. As for the knife she had used, she would clean it and sharpen it until it was practically a knew blade.

xxx

News of Ieyasu's death just might have spread faster than news of Lord Kunichiyo's, and not a soul cried poison because Amaya had left with her pot of tea, and the Shogun was already known to have cancer. The only news that did rouse suspicion was the announcement of the new Shogun upon his death. An illegitimate daughter was not the usual choice for heir, especially when one's legitimate son already held the position, though the idea was not _so_ bad a stretch. It helped of course, that writer of the will's handwriting did in fact match the Shogun, and no one questioned the little drop of blood that stained the corner. Much to Amaya's guilty amusement, the little world seemed to think that was Ieyasu's way of officially signing it.

And now, she quite literally had the whole world in the palm of her hand. Which, of course, included the ability to reinstate the No Hostilities Pact between the clashing Kouga and Iga.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully you enjoyed reading this. Would love to hear from you about it, and see you in a week or so. 


	6. Summer Storms

A/N: This took a little longer than expected, but it's also much longer than expected. Thank you for waiting.

Warnings: language, some sexuality

* * *

**Firefly Effect  
Summer Storms**

What being Shogun actually meant had never occurred to Amaya. She never considered that it would entail having to announce the reinstallation of the No Hostilities Pact to the feuding Iga and Kouga clans. Though, now that she had the time to think about it, she realized there was no other way such a thing could come about. Struggling just a little under the weight of her head dress, a thing which she was uncertain of its origin or purpose as there had not been a female Shogun ever before her, she cast a curious glance at Hattori Hanzo who was walking at such a brisk pace beside her that she was struggling to keep up. The great folds of ornate cloth making up her kimono, another ceremonial garment she had not expected, were cumbersome and hindered her movement.

Hattori Hanzo was silent and blank-faced beside her, appearing not to notice her inquisitive stare. He was disconcerting. He had shown no reaction when Amaya had broached the subject of the Pact's reinstallation to him. She'd been expecting outrage and blatant disapproval, all the while hoping for agreement and support. She'd received neither, only a noncommittal grunt of obedience and a muttered point about announcing it officially tomorrow.

She craned her head a little further around to make her stare more obvious. Without turning his head, Hanzo narrowed his eyes and returned her look with a cold sidelong glance. Amaya immediately bit her lip and turned away. She thought she heard an irritated huff from the man beside her, but the sound was quiet enough that she could have been imagining it. She hoped she was imagining it.

Amaya hadn't noticed that she was watching her toes as she walked until she jerked her head up upon hearing the scrape of a shoji being opened. The noon sun created a slight glare, and it took Amaya a moment for her vision to adjust, but when it did, she immediately recognized the centermost courtyard, formerly the site of Ieyasu's seductions and more recently the battlefield for Kazamachi and Yashamaru. A makeshift platform sat unoccupied before eleven figures, all of which bowed down as soon as they noticed her presence.

Amaya moved as stately and gracefully as she could to her designated platform, even though she trembled in her sandals and her hands were balled into fists tight enough that her fingernails bit into her palm to prevent herself from fidgeting nervously. It was taking all of her concentration not to clamp her teeth down on the abused corner of her bottom lip. She exhaled long and quiet in an attempt to relax herself just before carefully stepping up onto her platform and kneeling on it. Once settled and no longer afraid her nerves would cause her to topple off, Amaya realized she was uncomfortable staring at bowed heads, and without thinking, spoke to remedy the situation.

"I don't really like staring at the tops of heads when I'm speaking to people," she stated casually, only realizing her blunder when Yagyu Munenori glared at her over his shoulder with unconcealed disapproval. Amaya had nearly frozen under the icy stare, and found herself fumbling for someway to revoke the statement before realizing the bald man below her was completely insignificant. Amaya mustered up a little of her more characteristic boldness and glared back at him. She found his startled expression both amusing and extremely satisfying, and just barely refrained from smiling lazily with contentment.

When she lifted her head back up to face her audience, she noticed several pairs of eyes go wide in shocked recognition: the two women who had saved her from Koshirou, Akeginu, and… It was Amaya's turn to be surprised when she locked eyes with a familiar dark blue pair. Yashamaru had shifted some when she had ordered them to look at her when she spoke, and now knelt on only one knee, his arms crossed and draped over the other. Apparently he had recovered well. This time Amaya could not refrain from biting down on her lip, and she searched his expression desperately for any traces of emotion, wondering if he knew her selfish heart was to blame for his fiancé's death.

"Shogun Amaya," Hattori Hanzo hissed, barely loud enough for Amaya to hear even though she was only several feet away. "You are not here to ogle."

Amaya almost apologized, then decided a narrowed eyes and a hard glare would be better suited considering her position. Part of her wondered absently if she really commanded so much less authority than Ieyasu that Hanzo and Munenori thought they could push her around, or if they had treated the previous Shogun with the same lack of respect. She snorted, just to reinforce that she didn't really care what he thought she was expected to do then looked back at the eleven ninja before her.

And realized she hadn't the slightest clue what she should say. She debated for a half a second telling them exactly how and why she had killed Ieyasu, and realized that such a story would not go over well with the two men kneeling just in front of her. She inhaled deeply, then set her face with an apparent melancholy expression before speaking, choosing her words carefully.

Thank God… 

"I regret to inform you…"

…_that lecherous bastard Ieyasu finally kicked the bucket._

"…the great and honored retired Shogun Ieyasu, my father, passed away last night."

_I took the liberty of poisoning the ass._

"As you know, he had been suffering from a cancerous growth in his throat for some time now, and after years of struggling against it, it overcame him. In his final hours…"

…_with a knife pressed to his throat…_

"…he realized he had made a grave mistake in pitting the Kouga and Iga against each other."

…_over something as stupid as the decision of who would be heir._

"So, while on his death bed, he requested that I, his illegitimate daughter…"

Though it's not like Hidetada would have had the balls to deny him… 

"…have the No Hostilities Pact reinstalled…"

Huh… Actually, I don't think that fool had any idea this is what I wanted to do with the position of Shogun.

"So that no more lives be lost on his account."

…my account, but I can't very well say that either.

"That said, from this moment forward, that foolish competition that id… Ieyasu started is no more." Amaya bit her lip. She'd almost completely lost her slippery hold on formality.

Amaya hadn't realized she'd been unintentionally staring over the heads of her audience, and she dropped her gaze to look at their faces. She wished she hadn't. Mostly outrage looked back at her. The two clans had been so close to finally getting the revenge they felt they deserved on their rival, and she had yanked it back. Eyes narrowed to slits, clenched fists, taught muscles were all tell tale signs that most of the ninja were just barely refraining from attacking her for the injustice she had caused them. She was afraid to look at Yashamaru, terrified that she might see the same malice in his eyes and posture as well.

Her gaze was drawn to the foremost positioned members of the clan, the only names she had taken heed of when Hattori Hanzo was listing them. Oboro and Gennosuke, respective leaders of the Iga and Kouga clans, looked relieved, even happy and the bright eyed glances they exchanged as well as Oboro's slightly flushed cheeks were hard to miss. Amaya cocked her head slightly to one side; if she hadn't known better, she would have guessed the two were in love.

"Amaya-sama," a hissed voice startled her out of her pondering and she looked down at Munenori. "We should be getting inside now."

"Oh… of course."

Amaya was sluggish in her movements as she paraded out, with every step she felt the need to know what Yashamaru felt gnawing a little more violently at her insides. Once they had entered, her steps were small and slow, and she ignored the irritated looks shot back at her by her escorts. If they really wanted to demand an explanation, she would simply blame her outrageous attire and the midday heat. Though with every idle step, she was casting small glances over her shoulder, watching for when the ninja re-entered after her.

Just before they turned the corner, which would have cut off Amaya's line of site to the door, she caught the barest glimpse of the long, baggy sleeves of Yashamaru's kimono, and whipped around, dropping out of her raised wooden sandals as she did so.

"Shogun Amaya, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Munenori demanded of the retreating figure. The girl didn't even glance back at him as she continued to hurry down the hall.

Amaya could feel the more than wind resistant headdress pulling at her hair as she sprinted, and it was a struggle to keep from tripping over the monstrous folds of her kimono. If Munenori or Hanzo really felt the need to run her down and drag her back, they easily could have, but man handling was apparently where they drew line at disrespecting Shoguns, because they didn't chase after her.

By now, she had caught the attention of the line of ninja filing back inside, all of which were staring disbelievingly. Yashamaru had just slipped into another corridor and so hadn't noticed the antics in the hall behind him.

"Yashamaru-dono!" Amaya fisted her hand in the trailing fabric of his sleeve just before she tripped over her kimono and toppled to the floor at his feet, shameful tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

Yashamaru stared down at her dumbly for a moment. "Amaya-san?" he hazarded the slight lack of formality in an attempt to soothe the creature at his feet. He squatted down in front of her, tilting her head up to look at him with two fingers, not heeding the startled faces the action earned. Akeginu had told him everything, and he had a feeling he knew what was coming. He brushed the tears out from under her eyes with his thumbs.

"Yashamaru-dono…" Amaya trailed, glancing down at the floor just to her right. "I… I'm so sorry…"

"Hey, hey, shh," he interrupted gently, realizing that Amaya would blurt out her whole story in front of all present. "Akeginu told me."

Amaya's head snapped up and large frightened eyes met his, more tears starting to brim from them.

"I thought I told you not to cry," he teased softly, "You're not as pretty when you do." He was whispering and his head was bent low so as not to make the gawking ninjas around them privy to their conversation.

Confusion mingled with the fear, and Amaya's brow furrowed just slightly, a few last tears dripping down her cheeks. "I don't hold you responsible," Yashamaru offered.

"You… you don't?" Amaya didn't bother to lower her own voice.

Yashamaru shook his head. "A four hundred year old grudge killed Hotarubi-dono, not your attempt at making peace."

"But if I hadn't…"

Yashamaru pressed a finger to her mouth to silence her. "The Kouga would have found some other excuse to storm Tsubagakure," he finished for her.

"But _I_ was the reason…"

Yashamaru shook his head. "Not reason," he corrected, "Excuse." He leaned forward so that his mouth almost touched Amaya's ear. "Do you think they really cared that Kunichiyo was killed?"

Amaya's response was a puzzled stare, and Yashamaru was hit by her true ignorance of the Kouga / Iga feud. He sighed. "Trust me, then, when I say they didn't."

Amaya sniffled and fidgeted nervously with her sleeves. "Does that mean you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to…"

Pleading hazel eyes stared up at him. Amaya just wanted to hear those words, he realized. He shook his head resignedly, then offered her a charming smile. "Yes, I forgive you."

It was all Amaya needed; her eyes brightened and she flung herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his waist, and she nestled her head against his chest as best she could while wearing the awkward head dress. "Thank you," she breathed, one weight on her shoulders finally removed.

Yashamaru patted the top of her head. "And thank you," he whispered, "for reinstating the Pact. You were right, you know, this grudge, it was all foolish." He cast a quick glance up at the confused, occassionally seething crowd members. "They'll appreciate it eventually."

Someone cleared their throat behind her, and Amaya lifted herself up some and turned to look over her shoulder. Yashamaru stood, offering her a hand up as he did so, easily hoisting her onto her feet.

"Shogun Amaya, that was hardly befitting one of your status," Munenori chastised.

Amaya's eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "And telling me what to do is hardly befitting one of _your_ status, Munenori-san," she replied, smoothing the front of her rumpled kimono as best she could, leaving the entire room to stare at her in shock. Amaya for her part didn't care. She had already turned and was walking back in the direction she had come from, brushing in between the astonished Hanzo and Munenori, who were still for a moment before turning and following after her.

The moment she was in her chambers, Amaya began shedding articles of clothing, the ornate hair piece being the first thing to go. She set it carefully on the desk before yanking her obi untied and dropping it with significantly less care on the floor.

Munenori and Hanzo, who had just entered the room behind her, immediately averted their eyes. "Amaya-sama, what do you think you are doing?"

"Getting out of these offensive clothes," she answered back, "What does it look like?" As soon as the excessively heavy kimono was dropped off her shoulders, she shrugged her much simpler burgundy one back on, which she had stashed in a desk drawer for this exact purpose. In record time, she had tied the navy obi that had been stashed with it around her waist and was turned to dart back out the door.

Munenori caught her arm, just below the shoulder. Amaya paled, realizing just how lucky she was that he had not grabbed her wrist or forearm and gotten a handful of her hidden knife, then yanked her arm out of his grasp. The motion was not pain free, and she hissed out through her teeth. "Don't touch me," she snarled.

Munenori glared down her, and Amaya internally faltered, but remained outwardly glaring back, jaw set.

"Amaya-sama," Hanzo interrupted the staring contest, "Where do you think you are going?"

"Out," she answered.

"You have responsibilities, you know."

"This is more important," she answered, and just before Hanzo and Munenori could get over their shock at her reply, Amaya had bolted out the still open door. Perhaps if they had thought to close it behind them, they might have had a chance of catching her for it would have taken her several moments to drag the heavy wooden portal open. However, with neither the door nor cumbersome clothing to hinder her progress, neither man had a chance of catching the castle bred teen. They didn't even bother to shout after her.

"What was Ieyasu thinking?" Munenori sighed as he dropped onto a zabuton, rubbing his temples, "Naming that child Shogun?"

Hanzo shrugged, pouring two small cups of tea and offering one to the other man. "I don't know. Even with a knife pressed to his throat, I could never see Ieyasu putting his government in so much danger."

Munenori nodded agreement.

xxx

When she was certain Hanzo and Munenori weren't following her, Amaya slowed her pace to a walk. All the rebellion and boldness she had shown her escorts drained away in a matter of seconds when she reached Koshirou's door. Her hand shook when she knocked lightly on the fusuma. She was a little surprised when there was no answer, and slowly slid the paper door open a crack to peer in. Koshirou was alone. He was laying on his side, back turned to the door. Amaya couldn't tell if he was asleep or simply ignoring her. She slid the fusuma open a little more, just enough that she could slip through, and tip toed toward him, so as not to wake him up in case he was asleep.

"Most people don't let themselves in when no one answers the door," Koshirou snarled.

"Oh… I… I'm sorry." Amaya had been nearly at his back when he had spoken, and so she scurried back.

Koshirou immediately recognized the voice. "What the hell are you doing here? I don't want any more of your damn concoctions. I'm fine; leave me alone!"

"I didn't bring any today," she answered slowly.

"Then _why_ the _hell_ are you here?" he demanded again.

"I wanted to tell you that I kept my promise. I've fixed my error. No more lives will be lost on my account." Amaya's voice was steady, even though her heart was racing.

Koshirou snorted and rolled onto his back. "Like you really could have done that."

"I'm Shogun now," she replied evenly, "I can do whatever I want."

"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you? I'm blind, little girl, not stupid."

Koshirou had not been at her announcement, and Akeginu must not have relayed the news to him yet. "It's not that much of a stretch, I am his daughter, albeit an illegitimate one."

"So that bastard finally keeled over. Must have been senile, too, if he named you heir."

"No," Amaya answered, voice still perfectly composed, "Just threatened at knife point then poisoned."

Koshirou was silent.

"I killed him, Koshirou-dono. Held him at knife point until he would name me Shogun upon his death, then waited for the poison to take him. I had the No Hostilities Pact reinstalled earlier this afternoon. No more lives will be lost on my account," she repeated.

Koshirou was still silent. He heard the rustle of fabric and faint noise of cloth catching on the wood floor as though Amaya was scooting closer, followed by the click of her knife release. He tensed reflexively to defend himself and was more than a little shocked when soft hands lifted his arm out from under the thin sheet, then carefully pried his fist open. Something cool to the touch was pressed into his palm, and he could feel the ornate detailing of whatever it was. When he didn't immediately close his hand around it, a tentative palm pressed his fingers to fold over it.

"I… I also promised that if… if you still…"

Amaya's voice was trembling to the point that he almost couldn't understand her as were the hands that had both wrapped around his limp forearm. His knuckles brushed against smooth warmth that it took him a moment after gauging the height his arm was lifted to realize that it was her throat. He both heard and felt Amaya's nervous swallow as she shifted his hand a little to the left.

"I promised that, if after I fixed everything, if you… you still wanted…" Another swallow interrupted her words. "If you still wanted to kill me, I… I would let you."

With those words, Koshirou realized that it was Amaya's knife he was holding pressed against her throat. Her hands fell away from his forearm, and he could hear the dull thump of them hitting the floor at her sides. "I'm not going to slit my own throat, though," she muttered solemnly.

Koshirou snorted too quietly for the distracted Amaya to hear, then wrapped his hand around the knife's hilt in a more useful position.

Amaya swallowed again and closed her eyes. She felt the whoosh of something hurling past her nose and heard the thunk of the knife implanting itself in the wall before she registered that Koshirou's movement had not been one intending to kill her. Her eyes flew open, and she whipped her head around to see her small knife buried almost two inches into the support beam ten feet to her left.

"It wouldn't look very good if I killed the Shogun, would it? And somehow I don't see anyone believing that you offered me your life."

Amaya couldn't think of a right answer, and Koshirou continued.

"Besides, Oboro is happy now, isn't she?"

Amaya was more than stunned and it was muddling her thoughts, so it took her a moment to remember who Oboro was. Her eyes widened in sudden understanding as she recalled the slight blush dusting the Iga cheiftess' face and her bright eyes. "Oboro-dono, she is in love with Gennosuke-dono, isn't she?"

Koshirou made no response for a long moment, and then nodded slowly, biting his lip.

"What were they going to do? If I hadn't reinstated the Pact?" Amaya blurted incredulously.

"Kill each other, I suppose," Koshirou answered with a noncommittal shrug that didn't quite match the solemn hint in his tone. "She was devastated."

"Understandably so…" Amaya trailed in agreement.

"Which is why you have to stay alive, to make sure the No Hostilities Pact is maintained." It had been a sudden conclusion because he was in dire need of an explanation for why he hadn't killed Amaya, which had been difficult to come up with considering he wasn't sure why he had actually spared her. His tone, though, gave none of his uncertainty away.

"Oh… okay…"

Koshirou heard the rustle of fabric and creek of the old wooden floor as Amaya got to her feet, followed by soft footfalls as she went to the door, and lastly the slide of the fusuma being opened just a tad wider because Amaya hadn't closed it behind her when she'd come in.

"At least until after Oboro-sama and Gennosuke's wedding," Koshirou added. It sounded like a half hearted after thought, but Amaya wasn't willing to be so optimistic. She chewed her lip in almost violent in frustration. She wasn't forgiven, not at all, and she found that it was eating away at her. Amaya was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Akeginu, who had been sitting against the door the entire time.

She was half way back to her quarters when she heard something slither quickly across the ground behind her. She stopped a moment, waiting to hear the sound again, and when she did not, she continued moving. Another slither, this time in a hall as she passed by it caused her to freeze and turn on her heel to stare after the noise, even holding her breath, trying to catch the noise again. The only sound in the empty hallway, though, was the frantic knocking of her heart against her ribcage. The third time she heard the noise, she reached for the catch on her knife and realized that her right knife was still impaled in Koshirou's wall. Trying not to let this add fuel to her rising panic, she unhooked her left knife and tossed it into her dominant hand. "Is anyone there?" she asked.

"So sorry to alarm you, my dear," a serpentine voice greeted from behind her. Amaya slowly turned around to face the speaker, "But I haven't been able to help but overhear that you seem to think all is solved."

Amaya saw the armless, legless torso and heard not a word it spoke. She screamed and scrambled backwards, not even bothering to turn and run. She couldn't maintain her balance trying to back pedal so quickly and stumbled, causing her to fall backwards, landing with a thump and a yelp on her shoulder blades and tailbone.

Jyubei hadn't been expecting quite as startled a reaction as he received, having thought she would have noticed him during her announcement. Apparently, though, she had not, if the way she continued to try and back away from him even after her back was against the wall was any indication. "Get away get away get away!" she screamed and kicked her legs out at him.

Jyubei did as asked and stopped all forward motion and merely stared at her until her she ceased her howling.

Finally, when she realized her shouting was neither bringing her help nor frightening the limbless creature away, Amaya became silent. "What are you?" she squeaked out timidly.

"Jimushi Jyubei, living torso and Kouga ninja," he introduced eloquently with as much a bow as he could give,

This seemed to allay Amaya's fears some. She could feel her heart rate slowly dropping back to normal. "And you are stalking me through the hallway because…?" she trailed dubiously.

"I thought I should let you know, that despite your thoughts to the contrary, the mess you caused is not yet completely cleaned up."

"How do you…? What do you…?"

Jyubei didn't wait for her to finish a question. "I'm a reader of the stars, my dear, I know everything, and your future's not cleared of disaster just yet. I thought I should warn you." He turned to go.

"Wait!"

He noticed Amaya's hand reach to grab him then suddenly jerk itself back, uncertain. "That's not what I meant… How do you know this is my fault?"

Jyubei flashed her a wicked smile around his pipe. "Amaya-dono, I already told you, I know everything. Don't worry, though, that includes what futures and pasts need never be spoken of."

"Uhm…" Amaya was left speechless.

"Take care, my dear." Amaya was just a little startled by the speed at which he slithered away.

xxx

Akeginu wiggled the hilt of the knife Koshirou had implanted in the wall until it was loose enough for her yank free. "You didn't kill her," she stated conversationally, studying the decorative knife handle. "I'm intrigued."

Koshirou rolled onto his other side, facing away from her, grumbling incoherently in response.

"You were intent on killing her. Why didn't you?" Akeginu asked a little more directly.

"It wouldn't look very good to kill a Shogun," Koshirou dead panned.

Akeginu snorted. "You didn't believe that when you told Amaya and you don't believe it now."

Koshirou winced, but didn't deny Akeginu's statement.

"I think you saw something in her, something you…"

A soft knock on the door interrupted her. Akeginu let the thought dangle and went to answer it. "Shogun Amaya," she greeted warmly. "Returned for your knife, I presume?"

"Please, Akeginu-dono, just Amaya is fine."

Koshirou could hear the faint chink of Amaya's knife being replaced in its sheath.

"Actually, I brought this for Koshirou-dono. I don't know if he actually needs it, but I thought I would…"

Akeginu noticed the way Amaya was craning her head around, trying to look over her shoulder at Koshirou. "I told you I didn't need it, Amaya!" Koshirou snarled from his bed. Akeginu frowned and took the little pot from the girl.

"I'll offer it to him later," she whispered, knowing Koshirou would pitch a fit if he realized she was accepting it. "He's… not feeling well."

"Oh…" The corners of Amaya's mouth turned down in a frown. "I hope he feels better then."

Koshirou heard the slide and thump of the fusuma being shut.

"She only wants to help you, you know," Akeginu chastised.

Koshirou grunted.

xxx

Amaya couldn't hold still at her desk, and her mind was much too preoccupied to focus on the documents Hanzo had set out in front of her.

"Shogun Amaya, are you paying attention?" he asked, tapping his pen on the desk to get her attention. The first few times, Amaya had snapped back to attention; now she didn't even turn her head away from the window, just offered him a bored sidelong stare and raised eyebrows. Hattori Hanzo was not a short tempered man, but this teenage female Shogun was grating on his every last nerve. He rather abruptly dropped his pen and forced his chair back so he could stand, causing Amaya to jump and turn to face him, though her expression merely changed from bored to slightly curious. "Amaya-dono, when you are ready to look at these papers, you know where you can find me," he gritted out as politely as he could.

Amaya waited just until he was out the door and had shut it behind him before dropping her forehead on the desk and groaning. "Thank God!" she blurted, "I thought he would never give up." Without lifting her head off the desk she reached with one hand and tugged a drawer open. Inside was a pot of the medicine she had been bringing Koshirou. Well, sort of; aware that he seemed to be in less pain, Amaya had removed the white poppy from the mix.

She dragged the oversized wooden door open with a significant amount of effort, just enough for her to slip through so that she could easily pull it closed behind her, and peered out, checking both directions of the hall for signs of either Hanzo or Munenori. Finding none, she started toward Koshirou's room.

Akeginu answered the door. "Amaya-dono…" she trailed, looking around behind her, as though expecting to see an escort. "What are you doing here? Don't you have things you should be doing?"

"I brought this for Koshirou." She held up a pot with which Akeginu was beginning to become familiar, and intentionally neglected to answer the second question.

Akeginu looked over her shoulder. Koshirou had been particularly volatile whenever Amaya was brought up in conversation, and she was unsure Amaya should be allowed in.

"Akeginu-dono!" Oboro came flying around the corner, colliding with Amaya in the process of stopping at the door, sending them both toppling to the ground. "Amaya-sama!" she blurted as soon as she recognized who it was she had hit, "I'm so sorry!"

Using the nearest wall for leverage, Amaya hoisted herself onto her feet, offering a hand to Oboro as she did so. "It's fine." She gave the embarrassed cheiftess a reassuring smile.

"Oboro-sama, is something the matter?" Akeginu asked before Oboro could continue to stammer apologies.

"No! Well, yes, sort of… Can we talk?" she asked.

Akeginu's eyebrows went up, and she glanced between Amaya and Oboro.

"It's not a problem, if you want to go talk," Amaya offered, slightly confused expression on her face. "I can take this to Koshirou by myself."

Akeginu looked over shoulder at the sulking ninja sprawled on his futon. "Thank you, Amaya-dono," she answered just before slipping into Oboro's room down the hall.

"I didn't need the last one, and I don't need this one," Koshirou snarled as soon as he heard the thump of the fusuma being shut. Fingers wrapped around his wrist, and a small pot was placed in his palm.

"Well, it can't do you any harm," Amaya answered calmly as he sat up and uncapped the pot.

If Koshirou could have glared at her, he would have. He lifted the container to his mouth and downed its contents in three swallows, then slammed it, empty, onto the floor. The floor, however, gave a little under his hand, and the action was followed by a squeal of pain. Koshirou immediately released the pot, hearing it slide off Amaya's thigh and onto the tatumi then roll away. He immediately went to rest his free hand on the injured limb, half afraid he might have broken the tiny girl's leg. He had intended to shatter the ceramic container against the floor in order to frighten Amaya away, that was how much force he had used to slam it down. Instead of the fabric of kimono, his hand fell on her own, which was trying to rub the pain out of the sore spot.

"Shit!" he blurted as he dropped his hand onto her thigh, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that! Are you okay?"

The hand underneath his froze, and through the contact he could tell her entire body had frozen as well. "I… I'm fine," a stunned voice answered. "It'll bruise, I'm sure, but I'm fine." His hand slid off her thigh as she scooted back away from him. He heard her footfalls followed by the chink of the cap being replaced on the pot. "I've got to go."

Koshirou nodded in acknowledgement. He heard the fusuma slide open. "Amaya," he shouted after her, "Don't bother using that stuff as an excuse to come back."

Amaya paused in the doorway. "Is that an invitation to come back?"

"No." Koshirou didn't receive any response but the thud of the fusuma being closed.

Amaya nearly collided with Akeginu on her way out because she was still looking back over shoulder at Koshirou instead of the direction she was moving. "Did it go well?" the older woman asked, eyes twinkling with curiosity.

"Uhm… yes, I suppose," Amaya answered with as much a smile as she could muster. Akeginu started to frown, hearing the dishonesty in Amaya's voice. "Is everything alright with Oboro-dono?" Amaya blurted, anything to change the subject.

Akeginu pretended not to notice this and laughed warmly. "Everything is fine, I think. Gennosuke-dono and Oboro-sama can't seem to decide whether to hold the wedding in Manjidani or Tsubagakure is all."

Amaya cocked her head to one side and seemed to think about the problem, closing the fusuma as she did so. "They could always hold the ceremony here," she offered, then grinned brightly.

Akeginu chuckled at the girl's sudden enthusiasm. "That's a most gracious offer, Amaya-dono. I'm sure Oboro-sama and Gennosuke will appreciate it."

Amaya's grin just broadened, the issue of Koshirou momentarily forgotten at the prospect of a celebration, before she turned to leave.

Her quarters weren't empty when she slipped inside.

"Where have you been, Amaya-sama?" Munenori's voice drifted from the shadows. His vague silhouette in the corner materialized into a human form by the dim light of the remaining candles. Most had melted away, having been left unattended all day.

Munenori's voice dripped irritation, and Amaya's mouth stretched into a sheepish grin that he couldn't see in the poorly lit room. She struggled to come up with a good answer; Munenori's deep frown, crossed arms, and steely eyes making her think "somewhere" was _not_ an answer that would go over well. She choked out two or three guilty laughs, trying to buy herself time to come up with an answer. Her brief conversation with Akeginu provided one, and her sheepish grin curled up into a contented smirk. The bald fencing instructor wasn't going to get to lecture her today.

"I was with Gennosuke-dono and Oboro-dono, helping them make plans for their wedding. There seemed to be dispute over whether to hold their ceremony at the Iga or Kouga stronghold. I solved the impending issue by offering for them to have it here in Sunpu and stay at the castle." Her satisfied smile only grew.

"Was it really necessary that _you_ were involved in that?" he grumbled under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Amaya asked sweetly.

"Nothing." Munenori shook his head at the diminutive Shogun. "I will see you in the morning, Shogun Amaya. Good night."

xxx

Amaya had disregarded Munenori's parting words the night before, and she was more than a little disappointed when both he and Hanzo arrived that morning, each with a stack of papers. Yagyu Munenori was a much more stubborn man than Hattori Hanzo, and he had no tolerance for Amaya's day dreaming and distracted mind.

"Amaya-sama."

Amaya cracked an eye open at him, just barely enough for her to see out, but not enough for Munenori to notice, then let it drift closed again. The man had to give up eventually. The loud thump in combination with the shaking of her desk startled Amaya so badly that she squealed, jerked her elbows off it, and scrambled back in her chair. "What the hell?" she demanded, head snapping up to glare up Hanzo and Munenori.

Hanzo just stared blank faced at her, as per his usual. Munenori had a triumphant smirk on his face that bared his teeth. "Good morning, Shogun Amaya," he greeted with a wider smile and unconcealed sarcasm.

Amaya glared murderously at him as she picked up her pen, then leaned over to look at the document in front of her. She listened as patiently as she could to its explanation, though her eyes constantly drifted toward the window, or the door, or a wall hanging. Every time he noticed her eyes wandering, Munenori would say her name to get her attention. After several repetitions of this procedure Amaya realized what he was doing.

He would say her name three times, each time growing a little in volume and intensity. If she continued to ignore him after that, he would slam his fist down on the desk. Munenori didn't tire of this method, and unlike Hanzo the day before, did not give up on her half way through the day's tasks. Every single document they had brought was discussed in as much depth as Amaya's limited knowledge of government allowed, and anything she did not understand was patiently spelled out for her until she did.

It took the entire day to complete it all with several breaks for tea and snacks by Amaya's demand. As the hours ticked away, she realized there was no way she would be able to slip away to see Koshirou. The thought distracted her through the entire session, frustrating because she could not see him, and more frustrating because she didn't understand why it was frustrating. There's nothing like filling out paperwork and holding complicated political conversations in jargon one doesn't understand when one's mind is arguing with itself.

Tomorrow could not go the same way. A late night raid of her mother's herb closet guaranteed that it would not.

xxx

Shogun Amaya was pouring tea when Hanzo and Munenori arrived the next morning with a slightly smaller stack of papers. Two pairs of eyes widened, and the two exchanged a glance. "Amaya-sama, where are the servants?"

Amaya leisurely lifted her head to look at them. "I gave them the day off," she answered casually. As expected, her response wasn't met with much disbelief.

"Amaya-sama, it doesn't work like that…" Munenori began.

Hanzo held up a hand to silence him, shaking his head. "Don't bother," he grumbled to his companion. "Did you make the tea yourself, then, Shogun Amaya?" He decided to humor the girl.

Amaya resisted smirking, and instead smiled sweetly. "I did," she answered, pouring the final cup. She'd filled her own cup first, and it held only water, not the sedative enhanced tea.

Amaya immediately noticed Munenori's dubious expression, and her smile faltered slightly. He was clearly suspicious of her sudden amiable behavior. If Hanzo felt the same way, he was much better at hiding it. He lowered himself into his chair and took a drink from his cup. Munenori lifted his slowly to his face and sniffed it.

Amaya struggled to maintain a neutral expression, terrified for a moment that she would be caught. She contained her sigh of relief when he took a drink.

"I don't know the taste," Hanzo commented. "What is it?"

Composure was becoming harder and harder to maintain. "Something exotic. You won't have heard of it. My mother loaned it to me."

Two pairs of eyebrows shot up. "Should we trust something made by Akane-san?"

Amaya's laugh was tad strained, and she hoped Hanzo and Munenori didn't notice. "It's supposed to be relaxing. She said it would make all this politics talk less stressful," Amaya made up on the spot.

Relaxing it was; so much so that after only several documents, Munenori and Hanzo's worlds seemed to spin in and out of focus and their eyelids drooped heavily. By the time they connected their weariness with the tea Amaya had made, a blurry figure was telling them good night and waving goodbye.

"Clever bitch," Hanzo muttered, head dropping onto the desk. As predicted, Amaya was not there when they awoke.

xxx

Amaya tapped softly of Koshirou's fusuma.

"Come in," came the answer. Amaya was startled to hear Koshirou's voice respond, not Akeginu's, and she slid the door open cautiously. She was surprised when she saw that Koshirou was sitting up, one leg stretched out in front of him, the other bent upwards with his arms draped over it. If he could see, he would have been staring out the small window, and so had his back to her.

Koshirou strained his ears to identify the footfalls of his visitor. They were too light to be Nenki, Tenzen, or Yashamaru and not confident enough to be Akeginu. The stride was just a tad longer than Oboro's. Koshirou was confused. He had identified the sound of all his comrades' steps in the last two days, and these matched none of them. "Who's there?" he finally asked.

Amaya hesitated, afraid of what his reaction would be if she identified herself. "A… Amaya," she answered quietly.

"I told you not to use your medicine as an excuse to come back," Koshirou snapped, turning in a reflexive but useless gesture to glare over his shoulder, revealing that the bandages that had wrapped his head were gone, replaced by a black mask that covered two thirds of his face.

"I'm not," she answered boldly, walking around and leaning against the wall beside the widow.

Koshirou heard and tried to follow her footfalls. He squirmed uncomfortably, turning his head from side to side, trying to discern where she was.

Amaya frowned and took pity on the blind ninja. "I'm right here," she informed gently, sliding down the wall so she was sitting against it. The sound of her voice and the noise of sliding fabric were enough for Koshirou to easily locate her. He snorted, the sound intending to inform her that he hadn't needed her help. Amaya felt no need to contradict him and merely shrugged. They sat in silence for so long that Koshirou started to wonder if Amaya had somehow silently slipped out, uneasy with the uncertainty.

Amaya must have noticed because she spoke again. "I'm still here." She cocked her head to one side and studied Koshirou closely. "You're frustrated, aren't you, being unable to see?"

Koshirou turned his head to the side. His noncommittal grunt didn't really constitute as an answer.

"You should see my mother. She's cured a lot of seemingly incurable injuries. She might be able to restore your vision," Amaya offered.

"I don't need your mother's help," Koshirou snarled.

Amaya's eyebrows went up in a slightly amused expression. "Are you saying you think you can restore your vision by yourself?" she asked rhetorically.

Koshirou was silent.

"Or do you still not trust her?" Amaya hazarded.

He didn't answer.

"Koshirou-dono," Amaya's voice took on a pleading note. "My mother has no reason to do you harm, and you can't live like this forever."

"I am fine!" His head whipped back around as he yelled it. "I do not need your mother to cure me!"

Amaya's eyebrows went up again and she chuckled humorlessly. "Are you saying you're okay with being blind for the rest of your life?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Yes!" he snapped hurriedly, hoping the answer would satisfy her and she would go away.

There was a slight pause before Amaya spoke again, voice almost too calm. "Then why haven't you left this room for the last five days? You've clearly recovered from Okoi's attack and your face has healed. If you are comfortable being blind for the rest of your life, why won't you leave your room?"

Koshirou mulled over her words in silence, and when he didn't respond, Amaya continued.

"This has nothing to do with your eyes does it? It has to do with your pride! You won't ask for help, but you'll sit here and sulk about your misfortune!" she accused harshly. Amaya hadn't come to lecture. Her premise for seeing Koshirou was to convince him he should see her mother and let the experienced apothecary try to help him.

"I am not sulking!" He made an angry lunge toward Amaya's voice, but as he couldn't see her, it was poorly aimed, and the girl easily stepped out of the way. Koshirou's feet tangled in his sheets and he topped to the floor. Humiliated, he didn't even bother to move.

Amaya bit her lip, feeling sympathy and guilt eating at her. She knelt down next to the fallen ninja. "Koshirou-dono," she reached out and touched his shoulder tentatively, "Please…"

An arm shot out and knocked her hand away with more force than was really necessary, and Amaya yelped and fell back on her heels, holding the attacked appendage protectively against her chest.

"Don't fucking touch me," Koshirou snarled.

Amaya felt frustrated tears spring to the corners of her eyes that she struggled to hold back so Koshirou wouldn't hear. "Fine," she snapped with as much force as she could. "I don't even know why I bothered."

That was the first time Koshirou had ever heard Amaya slam the fusuma, and he felt inexplicable guilt starting to form in his chest.

Amaya took off at a sprint as soon as she was out the door, feeling the frustrated tears she had been struggling to hold in flow freely down her face. She crashed into someone several steps past the door, and barely paused to stammer an apology before she continued.

It didn't register that it was Amaya that had collided with Akeginu until the girl was almost out of site. As she slid open the door of Koshirou's room she could already guess what had happened. Koshirou was picking himself up off the floor when she entered.

"Koshirou, Koshirou, Koshirou," Akeginu chided, reaching to help him back under covers. Koshirou brushed her hands away with significantly less force than he had used with Amaya. Akeginu sat back on her heels with a sigh, watching as the blind ninja awkwardly resituated his sheets. She waited until he was settled before she spoke. "What happened?" she asked.

"I'm not fucking talking about it," Koshirou answered angrily.

Akeginu winced. "Alright, I suppose." Koshirou heard the rustle of fabric as she stood, followed by footfalls. "I'll be back later if you need anything." With the slight thump of the fusuma, Koshirou found he was alone again.

xxx

Hattori Hanzo had been searching the castle for the escaped Shogun, but he ceased his brisk walking pace when he heard noise coming from the Shogun's private courtyard, pausing to press an ear to the shoji. Sobs, he concluded after listening a moment, were the noise he was hearing. He slowly slid the shoji open, intending not to be heard by the person within, but the door caught harshly on the floor, making a painful grating noise that gave away his presence.

"I thought no one was allowed in here but the Shogun," a hoarse voice trying to sound authoritative informed. It was hard through the tears, but Hanzo recognized it as Amaya's. He took several steps into the courtyard. It used to be full of exotic flora, but for the last several years it hadn't been maintained, and was instead a tangled mess of overgrown weeds.

"Shogun Amaya, where are you?" he called, lifting branches to the side in a vain attempt to find the path that should have been there. The sound of tears had momentarily stopped, giving him nothing to follow.

"It does not matter," came the answer. The voice was close, and another lifted branch revealed Amaya curled up on bench, chin resting on her knees, eyes swollen with tears. As soon as she realized he had found her, she started to wipe the tears away. "Go away!" she snarled at him, eyes narrowing angrily.

"It's not really my place to ask, but…"

"I told you to go away!" she interrupted, glare darkening.

Hanzo debated what he could say to placate the clearly upset creature curled on the bench, stepping closer. As soon as he was near enough, Amaya kicked out at him. "I told you to leave!" she snapped, voice hysterical, turning her head away, trying to uselessly to hide her tear stained face.

Hanzo stepped out of range of her foot. "Shogun Amaya…"

She turned to face him, eyes narrowing even further in a dangerous glare. "Go! Away!" she growled.

Hanzo debated trying again for a half a second before turning to leave, shaking his head.

"Oh! Hattori-sama!" a voice greeted as he closed the shoji behind him. He turned to face the woman hurrying toward him. He couldn't recall her name, though recognized her as one of the Iga ninja. "Have you seen Shogun Amaya?"

He was a bit startled by the request. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing the door. "In there, but I don't think she wants to see anyone," he answered.

"I wouldn't expect her to," was Akeginu's reply as she stepped around him and opened the shoji, wincing at the awful noise it made against the floor. "You should really have that fixed," she informed Hanzo casually as she slipped through, closing it behind her, leaving Hanzo to stare dumbly after her.

"Go the fuck away, Hanzo," an angry, tear laced voice snarled as soon as the shoji was closed.

"It's not Hanzo," Akeginu said gently, following the sound of Amaya's tears until she found the girl, still curled up as she had been when Hanzo had found her. She lifted her head off her knees and wiped at her eyes again when she saw Akeginu.

"Akeginu-dono, forgive me, I thought you were someone else," she explained pointlessly, as Akeginu clearly could figure that out.

"It's fine," she replied and sat next to the teary-eyed Shogun. She leaned back and stared up at the sky. It was splashed with the dazzling pinks and oranges of sunset. "So," she began lightly, "what happened between you and Koshirou?"

Amaya sort of shrugged and mumbled, "Nothing."

Akeginu tilted her head back down to stare at Amaya's profile. The girl was glaring at a point several inches in front of her nose. "Do you honestly think I'm going to believe that?"

Amaya shrugged again. "No."

Akeginu sighed. "What's wrong?"

"I'm confused and frustrated," Amaya answered without hesitation.

Akeginu quirked an eyebrow up at her. "About?"

"Why I give a damn about Koshirou," Amaya grumbled almost incoherently. "I have done everything I can to make up for the pains I caused him, and he still seems so angry at me."

Akeginu thought a moment, "I don't really think…"

She was interrupted by the slam of the shoji. "Shogun Amaya get your ass inside now! You have some serious explaining to do!" Munenori came storming into the clearing, stomping up to Amaya.

The girl glared up at him, despite the tears that still stained her cheeks. "I request that you not speak to me like that again, Munenori-san," she hissed at him, voice dead calm as she rose to her feet. Even though it required her to tilt her head back so far it looked uncomfortable, Amaya locked her eyes with the swords' master. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her body was taught, defiance apparent in the stance. "If you wish to talk to me about this morning, then we may, but you should really cool your temper first." She brushed past him, toward the door, turning to look back over her shoulder at Akeginu. "Forgive me again, Akeginu-dono, I need to be going."

Akeginu was a tad surprised at the girl's behavior. Her avoidance tactics weren't as outright as Koshirou's, but she had definitely taken full advantage of that situation to get out of talking about the blind ninja. As she passed by Munenori, she tapped his chin. "You might want to close your mouth before you go in. The dropped jaw shocked look isn't particurally dignified."

Munenori just scowled at her before turning on his heel to follow Amaya and Hanzo out. He was several paces behind them, and Hanzo was shutting the door to Amaya's quarters when he caught up. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Closing the doors," Hanzo answered simply. "Shogun Amaya said she was ready to retire for the evening and would rather wait until tomorrow to discuss the matter of this morning's tea."

"She doesn't have a choice in the matter, Hanzo!" Munenori snapped.

"But she does," he countered. "And she's right, you should cool your temper. Taking out your anger over your bruised ego on me and the girl is less than becoming."

Hanzo brushed past him, intending to retire for the night as well, leaving Munenori to stare dumbly behind him.

xxx

Noticeably, there was a servant pouring the tea when Hanzo and Munenori let themselves in the next day. Amaya's eyes were smoldering; her elbows rested on the desk, and her fingers were laced in front of her, her chin resting on them. She looked less than pleased to see them. "Good morning," she greeted. Neither Munenori nor Hanzo carried papers, and Amaya wondered if her actions yesterday would really require a day long conversation.

Amaya watched the two men intently as they sat down. Munenori's actions were stiff. He pulled out his chair with a white knuckled grip. Hanzo was not so stiff, but he seemed less than inclined to meet her angry stare. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Yesterday morning," he began, "You felt the need to poison Munenori-san and myself."

"I wouldn't call it 'poisoning'," Amaya interjected, "It was not so maliciously intended as poison would be. You're still very much alive and well, am I right?" She quirked an eyebrow up at them both.

Hanzo wasn't sure what to say. Munenori was sitting silently, jaw and fists clenched, clearly wanting to lash out at Amaya and struggling to refrain from doing so. He was not going to speak either.

"How about we say I drugged you? That sounds a little less malevolent," Amaya offered, breaking the tense silence.

Hanzo breathed out an audible sigh of relief. "You felt the need to drug Munenori and myself," he corrected his previous statement. "Why?"

Amaya turned her head to look out the window without lifting it off her folded hands. She had thought long and hard about her answer. "I needed to see someone," she answered without looking at them.

Munenori's eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth to lecture. Hanzo held up a hand to silence him, knowing full well that Amaya would take no heed of a speech about sacrificing one's personal life for the sake of their duties. Munenori glared at him. Hanzo almost wished the other man had not come at all today; he was certain that he would have been able to get more information out of Amaya if Munenori was not scowling at her the entire time.

"This someone," Hanzo began cautiously. Amaya cast him a bored sidelong glance, waiting for the inevitable question, and was slightly surprised by what was actually asked. "You're not going to tell me who they are, are you?"

"No," Amaya answered simply.

Munenori started to rise out of his chair, and Hanzo's arm shot out to hold him in place, glaring at him when he resisted. With a look that promised an argument later, Munenori allowed himself to be forced back into his chair.

Still treading lightly, Hanzo continued. "This person, are you going to be sneaking away to see them regularly?"

Amaya's eyes widened in unconcealed shock just briefly in reaction to the question before she resumed her blank facial expression and actually debated the question. Hanzo watched her bite down on her lip and her brow furrow as she thought about it. Without releasing her lip or relaxing her clearly frustrated facial expression, she nodded wordlessly.

"Then, to avoid another incident such as yesterday morning's, may I suggest you simply schedule to meet with them?"

Amaya snorted. She didn't like the way he said that. "How about we schedule to finish by eight in the evening and I do whatever I want with the time after that?" she suggested, though her tone of voice left no room for compromise. The pointed look she cast him when she turned back to face them reiterated the feeling.

Hanzo rose to his feet. "Then we will begin that tomorrow, Amaya-sama." He bowed politely and dragged the dumbstruck Munenori out with him.

The swords' master whirled on him as soon as they were through the wooden doors of Amaya's chambers. "You bent completely to her whim!" he accused.

"She's Shogun, Munenori-san, what else could I do?" He continued speaking without looking at the other man. "Besides, what harm will it do? Other than prevent her from finding another way to drug us the next time she feels the need to slip away. With her having access to Akane-san's plants, I wouldn't want to clash with that girl, Munenori-san."

Munenori scowled, but it was an argument he could not deny.

Their early departure left Amaya with much too much time to mull over Koshirou. She let her arms buckle out from under her chin and dropped her head onto the desk. She scowled at the candle that blocked her line of vision to the window, and wished she could pin all her misfortunes on the flaming stub of wax. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled, blowing the little plume of fire out, which accomplished nothing but further darkening the room, as the wax body still blocked her view of the window. She dragged her arm out from under the desk and with minimal effort she pushed the candle to the right so she could see the darkening clouds outside. By the time it no longer blocked her view, it was balanced precariously on the edge of the desk. Amaya thought a moment then pushed it off, hearing the satisfying tinkling of shattering glass when the holder made contact with the floor. She grinned and rose to her feet and went to the window. It was going to storm, she realized, and her grin only widened.

A back corner of her brain wondered if dancing in the rain was behavior unbefitting a Shogun; the rest of it thought it would be amusing to break such a dumb rule of conduct. The rain was just occasional droplets when she stepped outside, but they gradually multiplied to a steady downpour after several minutes, and a crash of thunder brought with it torrential rain that was so heavy Amaya could barely see her hand if she stretched it out in front of her.

She spread her arms out and tilted her head back, as though the pouring water would wash away all the frustration of the last week.

The storm was brief, as most raging summer storms are, but it left Amaya soaked to the bone.

And feeling more empowered than she had in a long while. Not heeding her drenched state, she let herself back inside and made her way to Koshirou's room, struggling against the wave of uncertainty that threatened to crash over her as she knocked on the door. Once again, Koshirou answered as compared to Akeginu. The older woman must be spending a good deal of time with Oboro planning the wedding.

"Come in."

Koshirou recognized both the knock and the footfalls. "Amaya-dono," he greeted, startling the girl immensely. He could tell by the abrupt way her footsteps stopped.

"Koshirou-dono," she responded in kind, slowly lowering herself so she was leaning against the wall closest to the door. Confusion was laced into her voice.

Koshirou noted the slight splishing sound as Amaya presumably sat down, and heard it again as she shifted to make herself comfortable. "Were you out in the storm?" he asked conversationally.

"Yes," Amaya answered, adding caution to her tone.

"You're drenched. You really shouldn't be wandering around in such soaked clothes. You'll get sick."

She snorted. "I appreciate your concern, but I think I'll be fine."

"There are towels in the closet across the room." He took a moment to orient himself before pointing in the general direction.

She hesitated a moment, but he eventually heard the squash of wet fabric as Amaya stood and the footfalls as well as the drip-drop of water as she moved across the room to the closet. He waited silently as Amaya dried herself off as best she could, pondering. Koshirou had been forced to admit that he wished he hadn't chased her away the day before, forced to admit that the sound of her voice when it wasn't strained was comforting. He sighed, too quietly for Amaya to hear across the room. And now he was forced to admit that he wished she would let down the walls she appeared to have built since their last encounter. Frustrating didn't even begin to describe it.

Koshirou heard the plop of a slightly dryer body sitting down against the wall closest to him. He was aware of the inquisitive, confused stare that was boring into the side of his head.

"I didn't think you'd come back, after how I treated you yesterday…" he trailed. He'd expected an explanation, but instead only heard the barest shuffle of fabric as though perhaps Amaya had shrugged. "Why are you here?" he tried a more direct approach.

Amaya didn't really know, but she had a convenient excuse. "I want you reconsider seeing my mother about your eyes. I really think she could help." The pleading note was gone from her voice; the words rolled off her tongue without any of the previous day's force. "But I realize it's probably a useless endeavor." Another rustle of fabric Koshirou associated with a shrug followed the explanation.

"Oh," was Koshirou's only answer. "I… I guess you're right then."

Amaya cocked her head to one side and studied the blind ninja. He was laying down today, facing the ceiling. Actually, she hadn't noticed him turn toward her once. She bit her lip, confusion nagging at her and wiping out the last of the boldness the rain had instilled in her. "Koshirou-dono, are you alright? You're behaving strangely."

"I'm fine."

Amaya didn't reply for a moment, then smiled a little, humorlessly. "I'm sorry. That was a dumb question."

Koshirou shrugged.

A heavy silence filled the room. Amaya was curled against the wall, staring intently at a point a foot or so above Koshirou's chest, while Koshirou lay completely still on his back. Had he not been blind, he would have been boring holes through the ceiling with his stare. Both of them were struggling with the feeling that they had needed to see the other, and both of them were unsure why, which resulted in the awkwardness they were currently sitting in.

Koshirou sighed, this time pointedly loud enough for Amaya to hear. She lifted her head off her knees. "Hmm?" she made the slight questioning noise.

"I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Eh," Amaya shrugged again. "It's fine."

"And the rest of the week."

"Still fine," she replied, and Koshirou desperately hoped he wasn't imagining the hint of smile in the words. Another long pause followed before Amaya spoke again. "I should really be going…" she trailed. "I'm cold and getting your floor all wet." Her voice was warm, though, Koshirou noted optimistically.

"Amaya-dono," he caught her attention just before she opened the fusuma. "You don't have use medical excuses to come here…" he trailed.

There was a definite pause as she pondered the words. "Is that an invitation to come back?" she asked, trying to hide the hopefulness in her voice behind disbelief and failing. She rested her forehead against the wooden support beside the fusuma, afraid to hear the answer.

"Yeah."

"Good night, Koshirou-dono." The smile in that was as undeniable as the quiet thump of the fusuma being shut behind her.

xxx

Amaya was in significantly better spirits the next morning when Hanzo and Munenori arrived. It was impossible to miss. And if one could ignore the way she was constantly glancing over at the clock, she was actually paying more attention than the previous two days combined. Hanzo wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth by snapping at her for it, though.

Munenori, on the other hand, snapped at her whenever opportunity presented itself. Most noticeably, he neglected to use words to get her attention anymore, just skipped straight to pounding on the desk and occasionally shouting, which always resulted in startling the teen, and once even startled her to tears. She only let that happen once, though. The next time Munenori thumped the desk to make her look away from the clock, she ignored him, continued to stare for another moment, waiting until he raised his hand before turning to face him with an exasperated expression. "You're being an ass," she informed him bluntly, "Banging on the desk will not get this done any faster."

It appeared that finally snapped the swords' master's composure. He stared at her a moment, mouth gaping before pushing his chair back with enough force that it tipped over. He didn't bother to lift it back up before he stormed out, slamming the great wooden door behind him.

Amaya stared after him, stunned, then abruptly dropped her head in a bow. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. Should I go after him?"

"No." Hanzo was smirking when she looked back up at him. "Let him have his temper tantrum."

Amaya blinked twice at the Hattori ninja in shock, before returning his grin. "Okay."

"In the mean time – " Hanzo got to his feet, " – you're free to go. We'll finish tomorrow, I think."

Amaya smiled at him, the first real smile he thought he'd ever seen on the girl. "Thank you, Hanzo-dono." She hurried out before he could respond.

Hanzo sighed and shook his head, amused smile on his face. "No need to thank me," he murmured to the empty room.

xxx

"Koshirou-dono!" Amaya shouted as she flew in the fusuma, which she had barely opened enough for her body to slip through, and her rush her foot caught on its edge, sending her stumbling to her knees with a painful thud.

A shout and a thump roused Koshirou out of his sleep, and he rolled onto his side with a grunt.

Amaya's hands immediately went to cover her mouth when she realized that Koshirou had been sleeping. "I'm so sorry!" she blurted, "I didn't realize you were asleep."

"I said you could come back, not barge in without knocking," he growled at her.

"Oh…" The brightness in her voice faded away and was replaced by timidness. "I'm sorry."

Koshirou bit his lip; he hadn't meant to do that. "It's fine," he sighed. "I shouldn't have snapped."

"It… It's alright." Still timid.

He sighed. "What thudded when you came in?" he asked.

"Oh… nothing! It's fine. I tripped and fell is all!"

"Are you okay?"

Amaya was more than a little startled by the seriousness in his tone. She grinned, "Yeah," she answered, laughter laced into the word, "I'm fine."

Koshirou felt his cheeks heat up beneath his mask knowing that she was laughing at him, even if it was in good humor. "That's good," he mumbled in response.

Awkward silence followed, neither one knowing what to say, and neither one wanting to speak first for fear of embarrassing themselves.

"So, what was so exciting that you felt the need to burst in my door without knocking?"

"Oh, well, it's nothing. It's kind of dumb actually." Koshirou didn't have to see Amaya to know her face was flushed. She bit her lip and stared at her lap, trying to come up with an eloquent way to tell her story, then gave up and huffed out a sigh before speaking. "I told off Munenori-san today," she answered with a bit of a goofy grin. "Got sick of him yelling at me, so I told him he was an ass. He is an ass, actually, and so damn frustrating to work with. And he's mean, too." She curled her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, then rested her chin on them. "Hanzo-dono's not so bad, though." She paused again. "I don't really like this Shogun thing." She stared up at the ceiling. "It's all formalities and paperwork, it feels like. Short of reinstating the Pact, I don't feel like I've done anything actually useful."

"Then retire," Koshirou offered the simple solution, and Amaya glared at him even though he couldn't see her.

"After five days?" she asked incredulously, "Besides you were right. I have to stay in power to make sure the No Hostilities Pact stays installed, at least until Oboro-dono and Gennosuke-dono are married…" she trailed; that concept left a bitter taste in her mouth from previous conversations.

"Amaya-dono, you know I don't intend to kill you after their wedding, right?"

Amaya smiled half-heartedly at the prone ninja. "I certainly hope you don't."

Koshirou was fumbling for something reassuring to tell her when the fusuma slid open again. He was momentarily afraid that Amaya was leaving before he realized the foot falls that followed the noise were much too heavy to belong to Amaya. "Koshirou, the date for the wedding is set at…" Tenzen trailed upon seeing Amaya sitting against the wall behind Koshirou's head.

"Shogun Amaya," he greeted, bowing his head slightly. "What are you doing here?" He fixed his eyes on the tiny figure.

Amaya didn't like the way he spoke to her. The respect felt fake, and malice was thinly veiled behind it. Koshirou knew his sensei well enough that he didn't even hear the pretend respect, only the obvious dislike underneath.

Amaya barely managed to hold his gaze, not liking the way he looked at her either. "J… Just visiting."

Koshirou winced, hearing the evident fear in the way she stuttered, and he felt nauseous when he heard the familiar menacing smirk in Tenzen's voice when he noticed as well. "You may be going now, Shogun Amaya," somehow he simultaneously made it sound like both a suggestion and an order.

Koshirou wished desperately that he could see her face. Tenzen was an intimidating man, and he was using all of his daunting nature to frighten Amaya purely for entertainment because she had withdrew his ability to destroy the Kouga. Koshirou had been forced to hear all about it.

"Good bye, Koshirou-dono." The fusuma closed more harshly than it should have, and Koshirou assumed it was because Tenzen had closed it behind Amaya to further frighten the girl.

"Consorting with the enemy are we, Koshirou-kun?" he crooned dangerously at his pupil.

"She's not the enemy, Tenzen-sama," Koshirou tried.

Tenzen laughed outright at this. "Has she brainwashed you, too? Of course she's the enemy! She reinstalled the Pact!" His sensei chuckled darkly. "Perhaps I should get rid of her. I'm sure I could get someone on the throne that would have the Pact uninstalled again."

"Don't you hurt her, Tenzen," Koshirou snarled.

If anything, the outburst made Tenzen laugh harder. He bent down so that he was almost nose to nose with his masked pupil. "Is that an order, Koshirou-kun?" he hissed, "Because if I didn't know better, I'd say you had feelings for the girl."

Koshirou snarled wordlessly at him, making no response.

Tenzen stood upright, still snickering quietly. "Don't you worry, Koshirou-kun, for the moment, I have no intention of hurting a hair on her pretty little head."

Koshirou wasn't satisfied with this, but he couldn't very well argue with his sensei either.

xxx

"I hate Munenori," were the first words out of Amaya's mouth as she dropped onto the floor with an audible thump. This was latest she had arrived in the three days since her encounter with Tenzen, and so Koshirou could guess what was coming. "He was in one of his sadistic modes today, and not even Hanzo-dono could stop him." Amaya rubbed her temples with the pads of her fingers. "I didn't even know what he was talking about half the time."

"Then retire," Koshirou dead panned grumpily.

Amaya started to argue with him, then bit her tongue to stop herself. That had become Koshirou's answer to every complaint she had about her position of Shogun, and it translated to "I don't care." Maybe when she learned to be less whiny about it, he would be more inclined to listen. She leaned her head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling, companionable silence settling over them. Almost half of her visits consisted of this silence, as both parties pondered if they had anything of interest to say.

"Koshirou-dono, did Akeginu-dono ever tell you why I killed Kunichiyo?" there was a trace of sadness in the otherwise conversational tone.

"No," was the simple answer.

Amaya stared down her outstretched legs at her toes. "You know, I might never have done it if I'd've know Yashamaru-dono was engaged."

"Hnn." Koshirou made the noise just to indicate that he was listening.

"I met him, just before the Pact was dissolved, and fell hard and fast for him. When I heard about the blood bath Ieyasu wanted to start, I decided I had to stop it, to save him. I thought killing Kunichiyo would eliminate the need for the Kouga and Iga to fight."

"Rather misguided and naïve of you," Koshirou commented.

Amaya hung her head. "Yeah, I know. It's just, I really thought I loved him, I guess. He was the first person I felt like I could open up to and be myself with. It's hard feeling you have to pretend, act formal or act submissive. It's not so bad, now, I guess. With being Shogun comes the right to be whoever I want because there's nothing anyone can do about it." She sighed, "But it's not quite the same."

"Well, then you've been a damn good fake for the last week and a half. You've sure had me fooled."

Amaya started visibly. "I'm sorry… I… I didn't mean… any offense… I'm sorry…" She sighed again. "That was awkward."

Koshirou shrugged.

More silence followed, interrupted only by the creaking of the floor, rustling of fabric, and faint thumps as Amaya struggled to find a comfortable position and massage the muscles of her tense neck in the process, banging her elbows against the wall every third or fourth movement.

"What are you doing?" Koshirou questioned when the commotion continued more than several minutes.

"Trying… to get the kink out of my neck," Amaya grunted in answer. "Stupid Munenori, had me bent over that damn desk all day." A yelp and another thump as her elbow bumped the wall for the umpteenth time interrupted her. "And I can't seem to get at it right."

"Come here."

All movement on the other side of the room ceased.

"You're going to hurt yourself, and you're causing a ruckus. Come here," he repeated with a little more force. After another long moment of silence, hesitant foot steps made their way toward him. Koshirou felt the futon shift a little under him, signaling that Amaya had sat down beside him. He sat up, turning to face her back. "I'm going to assume you have your back to me."

"Mmm," Amaya made a noise of agreement, just as she felt hesitant fingers touch her back. She wasn't prepared for the electricity of the touch and she just barely refrained from arching into it. They moved upward, obviously searching for her neck, and it felt like they were leaving heated paths behind them.

Koshirou chewed his lip and struggled to keep his hands from trembling. He was very quickly realizing this might not have been so good an idea; his control already felt like it was slipping. The way Amaya's breath hitched when his fingers reached the bare skin at the back of her neck helped not a thing. Koshirou swallowed hard. He'd forgotten just how small the girl in front of him was. He found himself afraid he would break her when he started to apply pressure to her neck that was so slender he could easily wrap both hands around it in such a way that all his fingers would overlap.

Amaya's eyes drooped closed and she leaned her head forward to allow him better access. "You can press a little harder than that," she mumbled, "I won't break."

Koshirou swallowed again, quietly, not wanting Amaya to hear, and exerted a little more force, trying resist the urge to caress the smooth skin of the front of her throat with his free fingers, since he needed only his thumbs.

"Little lower," Amaya murmured. Koshirou slid his fingers down a ways. "Mmm, not quite." His fingers were as low as they could go, and his hands were brushing the neck of Amaya's kimono. He heard the rustle of fabric and felt his face get uncomfortably warm. Amaya reached back over her shoulder and took his hand, which had stilled in shock, and rested it at the juncture between neck and shoulder. "Right there," she informed.

He softly touched the bare skin at first, and was relieved to feel the brush of fabric against his hand, letting him know that the kimono had not been removed, just loosened. He breathed out a sigh.

Amaya felt the rush of warm air along the nape of her neck and shivered with sensation that had nothing to do with the cold.

Koshirou felt the tight knot at the location Amaya had directed him and winced sympathetically as he started to try and work it out. Amaya's head lolled to one side and she practically purred.

Koshirou felt his control slip even further with Amaya's tiny sigh, and he wondered if she had any idea what she was doing. A sharp gasp and faint moan alerted him to the fact that knot had come undone, and then shattered all the control he had left. His hands dropped to Amaya's clothed shoulders, and he leaned forward, nuzzling just behind her ear and inhaling the scent of her hair as he did so. Amaya's head lolled a little further to the side; she didn't seem to mind the contact.

It wasn't until lips brushed the nape of her neck, mouthing softly, tracing the same path as Koshirou's fingers that Amaya realized that the situation was past appropriate. A well placed kiss to the juncture of her jaw bone and throat caused her to realize it was also out of her control. Light suction applied to the spot, and Amaya decided she didn't care.

"Ko… Koshirou-dono…" she breathed out, turning her head to look over her shoulder at him. He either did not hear her or did not care that she had spoken for he merely shifted a little, kisses searching the newly available skin, drawing a trail along her jaw line.

Koshirou's hands kneaded the shoulders beneath them as he struggled to regain some semblance of control. Unintentionally, Amaya had shattered any prayer of that with the breathy gasp of his name. Trembling fingers pried his hands off Amaya's shoulders, and without warning all contact with her was broken. Immediately he started to stammer an apology, ears strained to try and hear the slide of the fusuma over his pounding heart, which felt like it had lurched into his skull and was thumping in ears and not his chest.

Hesitant lips pressed against his, cutting off his incoherent rambling. The tips of fingers tickled up the sides of his throat and tangled in his hair with enough force to drag the body in front of him closer. He was too stunned to respond for a moment, and Amaya backed away. He chased after her, relocking their mouths together before she could let go of the clumsy grip she'd had on his hair. He twined shaking arms around her waist, carefully, terrified that in his blind state he would grope something that would frighten her away. It surprised him, the way one arm twined so far around her that its fingers caressed her stomach, the other her ribcage, like he could crush her if he wasn't careful.

Amaya's hands seemed incapable of staying still. They stroked his neck one moment, tugged at his hair the next, caressed what of his face they could after that. She pressed her palms flat against his chest and slipped them into the neck of his kimono, her fingers catching and tangling in the mesh shirt he wore underneath. He felt the frown of frustration her kiss as she removed her hands, deciding a more direct approach was in order. The loose knot of the tie holding his kimono shut was yanked undone easily, and fumbling hands, still trembling fingers pushed the garment off his shoulders.

Koshirou let his hands wander as well, though not as brashly, merely sliding Amaya's loosened kimono a little further off her shoulders, resting his hands on her bare skin, thumbs gently stroking along her collar bones. Amaya sighed lowly at the touch, and Koshirou relinquished her bottom lip which he'd been mouthing tenderly to slide his tongue into her mouth. Amaya didn't resist the invasion.

It was Koshirou's turn to gasp when he felt bold hands slide up under the mesh shirt.

The defined muscles of Koshirou's stomach rippled as she dragged her fingers across them, the tips just barely catching in the ridges of his abs. She allowed herself one more appreciative stroke before scooting her hands up further, taking the mesh shirt up with them, palms tensing and releasing against Koshirou's torso with the action.

Koshirou concentrated all his attention on their kiss; his hands gripped Amaya's shoulders with enough force to bruise. It wasn't just his self control hanging by a thread anymore, but his sanity as well as he fought to keep his hands from exploring Amaya's body with the same abandon.

Neither of them heard the slide of the fusuma, or even Akeginu's mildly startled gasp. The older woman debated just ducking back out and pretending she had not witnessed the activities within, but Tenzen was at the end of the hall making his way toward Koshirou's room. "Forgive me for interrupting," she coughed, startling Amaya so badly she jumped and her head whipped around.

"Ake… Akeginu-dono!" she stammered as she scrambled off Koshirou's lap, tugging her loose kimono up in the same motion, fumbling to untie and retie her obi tight enough to hold the fabric in place. She had almost gotten it tied when she noticed Koshirou trying recover his own kimono without appearing obviously panicked. Amaya cast a quick look behind him to locate the article of clothing before leaning over slightly to pick it up and press it into his palm.

Akeginu shook her head and smiled at the two clearly flustered teens. "Relax," she said gently, startling them both, then laughed good naturedly at Koshirou who was tugging his own kimono closed and realizing the tie was missing.

Having come to the conclusion that Akeginu did not condemn their behavior, Amaya let out a sigh of relief as she reached for the missing tie. She leaned in and pressed an affectionate kiss to Koshirou's cheek as she laid it in his hand, smiling at her lover as she did so. "She said relax, Koshirou," she whispered softly to him, nuzzling his cheek, frowning a little at the cloth of the mask that prevented skin to skin contact.

Akeginu rolled her eyes at the puppy love display before her. "Took you long enough," she told them, and without giving either of them time to respond, continued. "To warn you, though, Tenzen is coming."

Amaya's eyes widened in a horrified expression, and Koshirou could feel the way she scrambled awkwardly to get to her feet in the way the futon shifted. A hurried kiss to his masked temple was all Amaya's goodbye consisted of before she slipped out the door past Akeginu and was gone. They would know if Tenzen had seen her the minute he was through the door, because doubtless he would have some snide remark about her. Much to Koshirou's relief, he merely relayed a message from Oboro to Akeginu: something about needing to see her about kimono patterns that Tenzen seemed begrudged to seriously speak about.

He snorted when he saw Koshirou. "You're kimono is inside out, idiot," he snickered, intending to prod at his pupil's lack of vision. Koshirou would let him think it was due to his blindness; that was a much safer solution that letting him know it had anything to do with Amaya.

xxx

Amaya knocked but didn't wait for him to answer before letting herself in the next day. Her knees thunked loudly on the tatumi when she dropped onto them beside him, making Koshirou wince. "Don't do that," he bit out, "You're going to hurt yourself."

Amaya snorted, then pressed a welcome kiss his cheek. "I think I'll be fine. You worry too much."

Koshirou scowled at her. But before he could argue the contrary, Amaya moved on. "Was Tenzen angry? That I was here?" Her voice was timid, and Koshirou guessed she'd bit her lip following the questions.

"He didn't even notice." It was Koshirou's turn to lean in and kiss his lover comfortingly, but his kiss was slightly less well placed than Amaya's and landed just below her right eye. She giggled and moved to correct the mistake by brushing her lips against his. Koshirou caught her shoulders, holding her gently at arms length. "We shouldn't start this again." His voice was completely serious.

Amaya sat back on her heels, bit her lip, and stared down at her hands which she'd folded in her lap. She sighed. He was right. Such behavior was far from appropriate. They sat silently for a moment and then Amaya huffed loudly. "You're stubbly," she stated bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Koshirou responded, "What?"

Finger tips traced over his chin and along his jaw line. "You haven't shaved since you lost your vision have you?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.

"No…" he trailed. "It didn't seem like a good idea, since I wouldn't be able to see what I was doing."

Amaya snorted. "Like you really need to see to find your face."

Koshirou's mouth turned down in a frown, and Amaya frowned back. "You're still uncomfortable being blind…" she trailed, "And you still haven't left this room."

Koshirou didn't answer.

Amaya sighed. "Why won't you see my mother? Just let her try?"

"My razor blade is over there." He pointed to a pack next to the closet in which Amaya had found the towels nearly a week earlier. "If you have such an issue with stubble." He was unable to hide the irritation in his voice.

Amaya sighed dejectedly and got to her feet to find the items she was in need of. Koshirou was a little startled when she dropped into his lap and her hands reached behind his head. It took a moment to realize what she was doing and his hands flew up and caught her wrists in a less than gentle grip. "No," he snarled, "It stays on."

"Koshirou, it's covering two thirds of your face. I can't possibly do this right with it on." Her fingers continued to work out the knot on the back of his head despite the restraining hands around her wrists. Noticing this, Koshirou forcefully dragged her arms down from behind his head. Amaya whined in pain, and Koshirou immediately released her. "I'm sorry," she muttered, starting to lift herself off of him.

Koshirou caught her sleeve. "No… Don't go. I'm sorry, you're right." He reached up to untie the knot himself, scowling when it took a little more effort than he expected. He yanked the fabric away with more force than was necessary, then immediately turned away from Amaya. Four long scars stretched across his face, a shorter fifth stretched between his eyes. The injuries hadn't been treated properly, or they wouldn't have scarred. Amaya brushed inquisitive fingers over the smooth scar tissue. They were new enough, they could easily be reduced to invisible if Koshirou would let her or her mother try.

"Hmm… These are courtesy of Tenzen's rushed dressing, aren't they? I don't see Akeginu-dono or Oboro-dono being this careless," she stated casually, fingers still tracing the thin scar lines.

Koshirou didn't respond, which was an answer unto itself. He thought he heard her exhale "stupid bastard" under her breath, audible only because of her proximity to him, but she didn't say anything else.

A wet cloth dragged down his cheek slowly, and Koshirou realized she must have brought water with her, having planned to do this. The cloth was followed by the slippery feel of shave soap, though the scent was unfamiliar, so it was likely something borrowed from Akane.

Amaya chewed her lip as she carefully ran the razorblade down Koshirou's cheek. The activity had seemed an interesting way to bond when she had thought of it, but now, sitting in awkward silence on his lap, she wished she'd never considered it. "Koshirou," she said gently, running her hand down his other cheek, "I need you to relax, koi. I don't want to cut you."

Koshirou let out a shaky breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and struggled to do as asked, guilt gnawing at him hearing the unhappiness in Amaya's tone.

Amaya struggled to finish the task, trying to hold in her disappointment. "Koshirou-dono," she whispered as she wiped away the last traces of soap and water with a dry cloth, "What's wrong?"

Koshirou turned his head away from her without answered and was startled when small hands softly took his face and turned it back to face her. "Nothing," he answered, realizing Amaya was not going to take silence for an answer.

"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?" she asked, thumbs tenderly caressing his cheek bones.

Koshirou went to hang his head, but the hands shifted to beneath his chin, holding his jaw and consequently keeping his head upright. He could feel Amaya's stare boring into his closed eyelids.

"It's humiliating," he muttered, turning away from Amaya despite the hands holding his face. "Being so dependent…" he trailed.

Amaya's hands slipped back over his ears, around behind his head until her arms were wrapped one around his head, the other around his shoulders, holding him against her chest. "I don't like how upset you are," she told him, running her fingers soothingly through his hair. "Especially when it could be so easily solved." She leaned back and gently touched his closed eyelids. "Koshirou," her voice had struck a pleading note, "Let my mother help you. God, just let her try," she begged.

She was distraught, and Koshirou hated it. If it would ease her frustration… Very slowly he nodded, swallowing hard. "Tomorrow," he muttered.

A warm smile split across Amaya's face. She splayed her hand across Koshirou's cheek, bending her head down just a little to press a kiss first to the tip of his nose then gently on his mouth. "You won't regret it, I promise." She smiled a little broader against his mouth. "And I always keep my promises."

Koshirou sighed, unable to deny the statement, as Amaya lifted herself up off his lap. "I've been here longer than I should've already. Tenzen could be back any minute. Good night, Koshirou."

xxx

"We need to finish earlier today," Amaya informed Hanzo and Munenori as they sat down.

Hanzo's eyebrows went up. "May I ask why, Amaya-dono?"

Amaya paused, trying to decide how much to tell him, then shrugged. "My mother needs help with a patient tonight," she answered, not really a lie at all.

"Akane-san should know better than to try and drag you away from your duties as…"

"Munenori-san, the matter is settled. It's not up for discussion," Amaya stated calmly, reaching across the desk and dragging a paper toward her, rotating it on the tip of her finger so she could read it. That was the last the issue was mentioned, and Amaya rushed out as soon as she was able.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Koshirou leaning against the wall just outside his room waiting for her. He either hadn't bothered to put his mask on or had taken it off before coming out, because he wasn't wearing it. He scowled when he heard her hurrying down the hall and then stop. "Don't just stand there. I want to get this over with," he said forcefully, but could quite keep the nervous tremor out of his voice.

Amaya pretended not hear it and grinned down at her feet as she shook her head. "Of course." She wound her arm around his and laced their fingers together so she could guide him through the halls.

xxx

Akane wasn't sure which shocked her more: that it was her daughter at the door of her shop or that it was her daughter with a man at the door of her shop. Upon inspection of Amaya's companion, she decided it was the latter. They were definitely an odd pair, the Iga ninja who was clearly rough around the edges and the petite, refined, castle bred Amaya whose fingers were almost completely hidden in his hand. "Amaya-chan, what's going on?"

Mother-daughter small talk about "boys" had never been a strong suit of Amaya and Akane's for obvious reasons, and Amaya found herself struggling for words to explain the situation at hand. She cocked her head to one side, trying to gauge her mother's reaction.

"Who is he?" Akane asked when her daughter didn't answer her first question after several moments.

"Koshirou-dono," she answered suddenly, realizing her mother probably did not remember him from their brief meeting almost two weeks prior.

Akane's eyebrows went up as she recognized him. "He wasn't scarred up so bad or blind when I saw him last," she stated casually.

Amaya bit down on her lip, not liking her mother's candid nature. "That's why we're here," she explained. "You've cured the blind before, and the scarring, well, that should be easy." Pleading hazel eyes stared up at Akane.

"Don't look at me like that," Akane snapped. "I'm your mother, what less could I do but help? Come in."

Koshirou felt Amaya's wince through his grip on her hand, and because it seemed like the right thing to do, gave it a reassuring squeeze. Amaya shook her head. She wasn't supposed to be the nervous one.

"Sit there," Akane pointed absently to a zabuton in the middle of the floor just before she ducked into her storage room. Amaya pretended not to notice the way her mother had already seemed to have forgotten that Koshirou couldn't see and helped him to the mat.

A jar flew out the partially opened fusuma, the word "catch" following it. Amaya barely managed to snag the container out of the air before it dropped onto the tatumi and shattered. She glared in the direction of her mother's work room. "Put that on his face while I get the mix for his eyes ready," Akane hollered the instruction without bothering to so much as poke her head into the room, and Amaya sighed.

She scooted around in front of Koshirou, unscrewing the lid of the jar as she did so. She ran the jar under her nose a few times, inhaling the scent and hoping to identify the contents. "This shouldn't burn, I don't think," she admitted as she dipped her fingers into the gooey substance, "But I don't know what it is, so I'm sorry in advance if it does." She smeared what she had on her fingers over the top most scar, careful to get as little as possible on the undamaged skin around it. Koshirou wrinkled his nose when he felt the thick sticky substance on his skin.

"Sorry," Amaya apologized, "It is kind of disgusting."

Amaya was searching for a towel on which to wipe her hands when Akane returned with a bright yellow paste in a bowel. She squatted in front of Koshirou. "Hold this," she ordered, setting the bowl in his offered palm. She reached out and pried his right eye open with her thumb and forefinger, studying the damaged tissue closely. "How long has it been since this happened?" she demanded, irritation in the question.

There was a long pause as both Amaya and Koshirou tried to count the days. "Eleven days, counting today," Amaya answered.

Akane's face contorted in a expression very similar to that of when no one could produce the snake whose venom Yashamaru drank. "You shouldn't have waited that long," she chastised Koshirou. "It only gets harder to reverse, the more time you let pass."

Koshirou made no response.

Akane sighed. "Count yourself damn lucky I know what I'm doing, or this would be unfixable." She pried the other eye open, though as she expected, it was in the same state. She let go of that eye, and still holding his right open, she dabbed her fingers into the paste. With extreme care, she smeared the mixture onto the broken surface of his eye. Koshirou started to wince away, and Akane's hand, still with traces of goo on it, lashed out and caught him tightly by the hair at the nape of his neck. "You have to hold still, dammit," she snarled.

Koshirou balled his hands into fists, bracing himself as Akane spread a little more on the same eye. "You need to keep your eyes open," she explained, as she moved to the other eye. "And this is going to burn, to warn you now, but you have to let it sit. Since you waited so damn long to get it treated, you've got at least twenty minutes to tough it out," she informed.

Almost as soon as Akane had said it, Amaya saw Koshirou bare his teeth and hiss out through them, a familiar expression of pain. The apothecary sat back and took the little bowel from him. "If you blink or wipe it off, we start all over," she said conversationally as she stood. "That's why I have to make so much. Not often that anyone finishes in one try." She gestured the remaining paste in the bowel for Amaya.

Amaya barely spared her half a glance. Koshirou's body had tensed up, his fists rested on taught thighs, clenched so tightly a little trickle of blood dripped between his fingers. "Stay still," Amaya reminded, a warning that she was going to touch him and he shouldn't be startled by the contact, then lifted his hand, prying the fingers open. "We can't have you doing that," she told him, obviously referring to the small puncture in his palm.

He heard her shuffle along the tatumi, but was a little surprised when he felt her press flush against his back. Her head rested between his shoulder blades, and her arms wrapped around his waist. She reached out to twine her fingers with his as she held him. "I'm right here," she whispered, not because he didn't know, just because the words were comforting. She nuzzled his back softly, anything to soothe him.

He wasn't used to affection. If it wasn't apparent, Tenzen rarely offered him a day's rest after an injury let alone any kind of actual comfort. He didn't really understand why Amaya felt the need to try and ease his pain, but he definitely appreciated the gesture.

Amaya didn't move from her position until her mother re-emerged from her work room with a wet cloth, at which point she sat back on her heels and rested her hands patiently in her lap. Akane wiped away both the sticky translucent green paste Amaya had spread over his scars, and with more care she removed the bright yellow goo from his eyes. She studied the scars while Koshirou furiously blinked the blurriness out from his vision. "You'll probably want to repeat the process for your scars." She touched one lightly. "But they're definitely most the way faded away. Pretty amazing, this stuff." She smiled at her own work and tossed the three quarter full jar to Amaya again.

Amaya caught it absently, not really looking as she did so. She was staring intently at the back of Koshirou's head, hoping desperately that his vision was completely restored. Akane was going to reprimand her daughter for her careless treatment of the glass jar, but realized it would go unnoticed. She shook her head as she went back into her work room.

Koshirou shook his head violently back and forth and rubbed his eyes, and when he took his hands away a less than crisp, but still visible picture of the world greeted him.

About the same time Koshirou realized he could see again, Amaya was realizing she looked terrible from a day bent over paper work that she hadn't really made any effort to look nice for anyway. "Ugh," she groaned, "What a first sight." She sighed. "I look completely… mmph." Koshirou's arms wrapped around her tightly and his mouth locked with hers, preventing further speech and effectively knocking Amaya off balance so badly that they both toppled to the floor.

Akane heard the thump and came rushing out, such noises usually meant someone had had an allergic reaction and had passed out. She stunned by what she actually saw. "Not in my office!" she barked. "Someone could walk in. Out!"

Koshirou immediately scrambled off the still startled Amaya, face flushed, immediately realizing his blunder and stammering apologies. Amaya on the other hand recognized the dry humor in her mother's voice and facial expression as she tilted her head back to look at the woman upside down. Akane wore a barely maintained frown, and her hands were braced on her hips in an exaggerated posture. She smirked at her mother from her position on the floor. "Of course, mother dearest."

The exchange was lost on Koshirou, who was still shooting sheepish glances at Akane as he offered Amaya a hand up. Amaya couldn't help but notice her lover's embaressment as he pulled her up. She lifted herself onto her toes and kissed his cheek softly before whispering in his ear, "Koi, relax. She's not serious."

Koshirou slowly looked away from Amaya and back at her mother. Akane's arms were crossed over chest and she was shaking her head, but there was definitely a smile on the older woman's face. Koshirou let out a releived sigh and draped his arms around Amaya's shoulders.

"See, I told you," Amaya said gently, resting her head on his chest, turning her head a little to the side to mouth the words "thank you" to the woman leaning against the frame of the fusuma before lacing her fingers with Koshirou's to tug him out the door.

* * *

A/N: I'm excited. I found a scene for Jyubei. You may credit the length of this chapter to my wonderful, if sometimes frustrating editor, who informed me I was not allowed to write anymore Romeo and Juliet, fall in love in twenty four hours, romances. Thus it took me 32 pages to hook up Koshirou and Amaya. Hope you like the pairing... I know a lot of people that are irritated by OCxseries character pairings... Hopefully I'll see you next chapter. 


	7. Afternoon Shower

A/N: School started and so even though this has been written since August, I didn't get the chance to proofread it until now. Furthermore, please be gentle about any typoes. I had to proofread quickly (one day as compared to two) and didn't have time to run it by my beta. Not to mention I feel like "the flow" is a little off for this chapter. Blah blah, I'm done whining and making excuses; in short this chapter was hard to write and I was rushed in doing so which was a bad combination.

Warnings: adult situation, strong violence, strong language

* * *

**Firefly Effect  
Afternoon Shower**

Yakushiji Tenzen had had more than a hundred years to nurse his hatred of the Kouga clan, that is, he'd had more than a hundred years to plot and dream and fantasize about how he would kill each and every Kouga ninja when he got the chance. To say that he was elated when word finally came that the No Hostilities Pact had absolved would have been an understatement. Suddenly the collar and chains that had kept him just within snapping distance, but never close enough to bite, had been shattered, and Tenzen was more than ready to rip the jugular out of the Kouga clan. Unfortunately, before he could do so much as make his first lunge, he was restrained, first by Oboro when questions arose after the death of Kunichiyo, then by that foolish little girl dressed up as Shogun.

Restraint, though, Tenzen could deal with. He could wait another a hundred or so years for a new chance at the Kouga ninja, all the while adding fuel to his burning hatred of them.

Now, though, it was appearing that his abhorrence of the Kouga clan was no longer shared by his fellow Iga ninjas. Oboro was a constant source of irritation unto herself, with her traitorous feelings for the Kouga leader Gennosuke. After Oboro, Yashamaru had been first to denounce their feud with the Kouga, citing it as the cause of Hotarubi's death. Akeginu's loyalty started to slip shortly there after, though the exact cause Tenzen couldn't name. He'd seen her once with the Kouga ninja Okoi, apparently engaged in pointless women's chattering, and she made no secret of the fact that she spoke often with Shogun Amaya.

Just thinking about the diminutive child Shogun made Tenzen's blood boil. He would go so far as to say she was the bane of his existence, because somehow she had managed to brainwash Koshirou. Tenzen had thought he had molded Chikuma Koshirou into the perfect Iga ninja, instilled fiery hatred of the Kouga almost as strong as his own in his pupil, only to see it shattered by a misguided _girl_. Koshirou no longer bothered to hide his relationship with the idiot Shogun from him, and Tenzen wasn't sure which couple made him more nauseous: his cheiftess Oboro and the Kouga leader or his star pupil Koshirou and the Shogun who had shattered their chances of ever getting the revenge they deserved on the Kouga clan.

Tenzen flung out his arm and banged his fist against the wall, causing the paper to tear, though not damaging the wood beneath. The resounding thunk that resulted startled Nenki, and the staff master nearly dropped the tea cup he had been sipping from. He glared over its rim at the sulking immortal ninja leaning against the wall across from him. It was growing tiresome being the only Iga ninja left that Tenzen could stand to be around. "Why don't you just kill one," Nenki grumbled sarcastically around his tea cup, "It'll take the edge off. Screw the Pact." He was more than a little shocked when he heard the slam of fusuma following his suggestion, and he wondered absently if Tenzen was seriously considering the ludicrous idea. Nenki shrugged. He didn't openly embrace the Pact's reinstallation the same way the rest of his clansmen appeared to, but he did not wish its immediate re-dissolution. He still mourned Hotarubi, even if not with same intensity Yashamaru did, and seeing his cheiftess smiling again was more than welcome. He could easily live with the No Hostilities Pact, though he wasn't sure he could live with Tenzen's inability to live with it.

Tenzen angrily stalked through the halls of Sunpu castle. Yes, he had decided killing someone was a very good idea. He idly traced his tongue over his lips, an expression frighteningly akin to that of a hungry wolf. The only question was: who? He would have loved to put a sword through any of the Kouga rats infesting the castle. Right on the tail of that thought, though, was the disappointing realization that such an action would most definitely incur the wrath of Kouga Gennosuke, perhaps the only person alive who had a fair chance of being able to decapitate and kill him. For the briefest moment the prospect of killing Oboro was extremely appealing, after all the girl was a traitor to her clan. The fancy whim was quickly discarded, though, and Tenzen's face twisted into a picture of morbid mirth. Shogun Amaya's blood would more than quench his thirst for now, and her death could easily be shrouded in the guise of an assassination. Tenzen's smirk stretched a little further across his cheeks, expression feral, and he licked his lips again.

xxx

Amaya scowled indecisively at the array of kimonos that were displayed in the outer room of her quarters. The perks of being Shogun were another aspect of the position she had not been prepared for. The minute word of a wedding at Sunpu castle breached its walls, kimono makers had come. Amaya was sure it had to be every designer from hundreds of miles around. She was slack jawed with awe as they paraded in, and Hanzo had had to remind her, not without traces of a chuckle in his voice, that she should close her mouth when gawking. It wasn't that Amaya was not appreciative of their generosity; it was just they were all so impressively majestic that a decision seemed impossible.

Amaya heard the grind of the large wooden doors being pushed open and breathed a sigh of relief. She could ask Koshirou to choose which he would like best to see her in, and her cheeks flushed warmly at the thought. Yes, she liked that idea very much, dressing up for Koshirou-dono.

"Koshirou-dono," Amaya said sweetly when she heard the faint thud of the door closing, "I need your help."

Tenzen's eyes widened a little in amused surprise at the case of mistaken identity, but he said nothing to correct the little Shogun.

Amaya felt the warmth of someone standing at her back and waited patiently for Koshirou's arms to wrap around her shoulders. When they did not, she leaned back against him, sighing softly and turning her head just slightly to nuzzle against him.

Tenzen barely refrained from jumping at the sudden contact, and stared down at the tiny creature pressed against him, eyes drooped closed, cheeks tinged with a slight flush, full lips parted slightly to allow the delicate sigh to slip through. He swallowed hard, feeling more than hearing the slight noise she made in the back of her throat when she turned her head against his chest.

"Koshirou-dono, would you…" a little voice began and then abruptly cut off.

Amaya's eyes flew open. The person behind her was too broad and too tall to be Koshirou and the fabric against her cheek was not soft like the worn fabric of Koshirou's kimono. She jerked herself upright and whipped around, eyes widening in horror when they locked with those of Yakushiji Tenzen. "T… Tenzen-sama," she stammered, backing away from him. Only two steps put her back against the wall, and one of Tenzen's strides put him close enough that she could not slip away. "What do you want? W… what are you doing here?" Amaya couldn't keep the tremor out of her voice, and she struggled to glare at the man towering over her, finding that her eyes seemed to dart away from his of their own volition.

Tenzen bared his teeth at her in a less than friendly smile. "I came here to kill you," he crooned conversationally. He leaned forward, resting his hands against the wall above her head for balance and bent his head down so he was almost nose to nose with the girl. "But I realized it would be such a waste to kill you now." He lifted himself up a little and hung his head in an exaggerated melancholy pose.

Amaya didn't like his tone, and she set her jaw and craned her head to glare at him in a expression to match. Tenzen received her attempt at intimidation with a predatory smirk before continuing. "After all, wouldn't it be sad if you died a virgin?" Tenzen reached to toy with the cloth of her obi as he spoke and Amaya flinched away from his touch. "You are still a virgin, right?" Tenzen mocked, purposely misinterpreting her wince, then he tossed his head back and laughed outright. When he ceased his sniggering and looked back at Amaya, the girl's glare had intensified. She clearly did not share his mirth, so he bent his head to whisper in her ear and let her in on his little joke. "You see, Amaya-chan, you must be a virgin, because little Koshirou doesn't have the slightest clue how to touch a woman." He laughed again, and his breath washed hotly over Amaya's cheek, causing her wrinkle up her nose and turn her face away from him. Tenzen was so close that she could feel his wicked grin against her ear and cheek, and Amaya squinted her eyes shut as she fumbled to undo the catch of her knife. "I thought I would be so kind as to remedy that situation, Amaya-chan." Tenzen pressed his mouth against her cheek, and Amaya turned her head further into the wall and backed her body tighter against it. "Before I kill you, I'm going to show you what…"

His words cut off abruptly in a strangled grunt. Amaya felt blood start to seep in between her fingers, wrapped painfully tight around her knife's hilt, and she reluctantly let go of it. Tenzen stumbled back, a little trickle of blood forming at the corner of his mouth, and he clutched at his stomach, searching for the knife impaled in him. "You bitch!" he snarled, yanking the knife free and starting to stalk after her with the bloodied weapon.

Amaya shrieked and scrambled to get away from him, and she let out another terrified yelp when in her frantic attempt to get away, she tripped over a zabuton and went sprawling across the low table. Tenzen was on her before she had time to stumble to her feet, and she barely managed to roll out of the way of his clumsily aimed stab. The point of the knife stuck in the table, giving Amaya just enough time to unhook her other knife and plunge it into Tenzen's chest with an angry half-snarl, half-shout, immediately jumping back when blood started to spurt from the injury.

Tenzen turned his head toward her, eyes bulging out, blood tinged teeth bared in a furious snarl. Terrified, Amaya started to scramble back further, tripping over her own feet and falling gracelessly onto her rear. She whimpered, afraid Tenzen would come after her again, and squinted her eyes shut to block out his manic expression, only opening them when she heard a dull thump. Tenzen had collapsed on the low table in grisly pool of his own blood.

Very slowly, Amaya hoisted herself to her feet, using the wall behind her for leverage, leaving two smudged red hand prints in her wake. She tip toed toward the fallen figure on the table and reached a hesitant hand out to touch his shoulder. "T… Tenzen-sama?" she asked the corpse. "Tenzen?" She pressed a little harder with her hand and when that earned her no response, she dared to shake his shoulder in a vain attempt to wake him. Amaya's eyes went very wide, and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. She shook her head. She hadn't meant to kill him. Hurt him, yes, and make him go away, but she hadn't wanted to kill him. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes and trickled down her cheeks, and she continued to shake her head back and forth.

Someone forced the door open, causing it to scrape harshly on the floor. "Amaya-dono, is everything alright?" Okoi asked, "I thought I heard…" she trailed, seeing the bloody puddles and foot prints decorating the floor in a confusing path leading to a dark haired body sprawled half on the table, half on the floor.

It almost seemed to take a moment too long for Amaya to register that Okoi had entered, and the little Shogun's eyes gradually dragged themselves away from the corpse on the table to meet Okoi's. The girl looked awful. Her kimono was so saturated with blood that it was ruined beyond repair, and the gruesome substance covered her hands and splotched her face as well; her eyes were swollen with tears.

"Amaya-dono…" Okoi wasn't sure what to say. "Who is that? What happened?"

"It… It's Tenzen-sama," she choked out quietly, knowing that if she raised her voice above the hoarse whisper the sobs would overcome her. "I… I didn't mean to… I didn't want to… to kill him, Okoi-dono." Amaya broke down then, falling to her knees and bawling into her hands.

Okoi rushed to the girl's side, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and holding her comfortingly against her chest. "Shh," she soothed, pushing matted strands of hair out of Amaya's face. "What happened?"

"I didn't want to kill him," Amaya repeated, "But he… he attacked me, said he wanted to kill me, was going to…" she trailed unable to speak the rest.

Okoi understood, and she rocked the girl gently in her arms. "Amaya-dono, you did nothing wrong," she told the frightened child.

She felt Amaya shake her head against her chest. "But I've done so much harm to the Iga already…"

Okoi's face contorted in a confused expression.

"You're damn right you did!"

Okoi whipped around, and before she had a chance to react, Tenzen's sword was through her throat. Blood fountained out of the injury. Amaya screamed. Okoi's hands flew up to clutch the sword impaling her, and the action only succeeded in slicing open the woman's fingers and adding more blood to the wreckage. She let out a gurgling gasp, and bright plume of blood followed the grotesque sound through her lips. Okoi's arms around Amaya went limp, and she tipped to the side, dead.

Amaya's eyes went wide in horrified shock. She grabbed at Okoi and shook her violently. "Okoi! Okoi! Please wake up!" She sobbed over the woman's body. "Don't die! Please, Okoi, don't die!" Even as she screamed, Amaya knew it was useless. She could feel the stickiness of Okoi's blood seeping through her kimono to her knees and shins. "I'm sorry," she breathed out finally, reaching to respectfully close the kunoichi's eyes.

Tenzen could only bear to watch the nauseating display for a moment. He snatched Amaya by the hair. She screamed and clawed at his hands uselessly as he dragged her over Okoi's corpse and tossed her onto the side of the table not stained by his blood. She hit the wood with a thud that knocked the wind out of her, and she gasped sharply.

"You bitch," he gritted out as he lowered himself enough that he straddled her on his knees. He dragged the tip of his sword from her left shoulder all the way to her hip. It was for intimidation; he didn't use enough force to slice through even the thin fabric of her kimono. "You had the audacity!" he put an angry accent on the word and punctuated it by slicing through her obi with more force than required so that he nicked her hip with the action. Amaya shrieked and winced away from the blade. A bruising grip on her opposite hip ceased the movement. Tenzen leaned down, nose to nose with her again and smirked. "You had the audacity to kill me," he growled, "and for that, I'm going to make this as painful as fucking possible." Without the obi to restrain the fabric, ripping her kimono open was not a problem.

That was when Amaya started to struggle. She pushed at his chest with all the force she could muster, and when that proved useless, she started to kick her legs, anything to get Tenzen off of her. The vain attempts only made the immortal ninja laugh, and he dropped down so that he sat on her thighs to restrain the minimal threat her thrashing feet posed. Amaya grunted in pain at the crushing force on her legs, as Tenzen at least doubled her in weight.

The hand that wasn't holding Tenzen's sword slid appreciatively up her stomach, and Amaya could feel bile rising in her throat in response to the unwanted caress. His fingers stopped at her breasts, still wrapped for support. Tenzen sniggered, "How cute," and lifted his sword to slice through the center and relieve Amaya of the garment, the tip of the sword slicing against the skin as well.

"Well aren't these pretty?" Tenzen mocked, fondling her with enough force to hurt. Amaya whined, and turned her head away as Tenzen bent down and nuzzled up the side of her face, pressing kisses to her cheek that made Amaya want to gag.

Amaya squinted her eyes shut against both her tears and the site of Tenzen as she pressed her cheek tighter and tighter against the surface of the table. When her eyes flickered open briefly, she caught sight of her knife, still lodged in the table from when Tenzen had tried to stab her with it. It was just within arm's reach, if only she could be sure Tenzen wouldn't notice her reach for it.

The immortal ninja's kisses were trailing from her cheek, down her throat and inching toward her breasts. Amaya fought valiantly against the urge to squirm away from him, and thus draw unwanted attention to herself. Swallowing the need to vomit as Tenzen's mouth searched her right breast, she very carefully reached for the knife, biting her tongue in frustration when she had to jostle the handle a little to get it free, terrified the entire time that Tenzen would notice she was reaching for it. To her relief, the his mouth was still occupied, and his hands still held bruisingly tight onto her hips.

It was almost too late when Tenzen realized how compliant his captive was being. He felt the sting of the knife digging into the back of his shoulder in enough time to snag the offending wrist and force it back against the table, biting down on the flesh he had been mouthing to reiterate his anger. Amaya shrieked and tossed her head back. "Idiotic bitch," he snapped at her, smacking her across the face with enough force to knock her head against the table, then with the same hand he reached around and removed the shallowly impaled knife from his shoulder. "This will teach you to keep your hands to yourself!" he snapped and shoved the knife through the hand he still had restrained against the table, effectively pinning it there.

Amaya's back arched off the table as the pain lanced up her entire arm, and she screamed in agony.

Tenzen sniggered, "And since you seem to be in such a hurry to get this done with…" He completely ignored Amaya's free hand, which was clawing uselessly at his face and shoulders. He needed both of his hands to pry the girl's thighs apart, and she clenched them tightly against him, not heeding the way his nails bit into her skin as he struggled. She'd started to kick again, too, as soon as he had lifted his weight off her, and she made one near successful blow to his groin that he rewarded her for with a painful punch to her hip. Amaya was howling now, loud and long cries meant to be heard by anyone near by, and Tenzen gritted his teeth, half afraid that with the racket the girl was making he might be caught.

"Shut up!" he snarled, knuckles cracking against her temple. The blow cut off her shouting momentarily, but as soon as the stun from the blow wore off, she resumed. "Damn you!" he gritted out, raising his hand to strike her again, and realizing such an action was useless. Instead, he bent down and crushed his mouth against hers in a bruising kiss. Amaya was just startled enough that she froze for half a second, and than she started struggling with more force than before. Her teeth clamped down on his tongue hard enough to draw blood the first time they were able, and they tore into the flesh when he tried to jerk back because she didn't relinquish her hold. When he finally did rip his tongue free, likely with a chunk or two missing, she bit down on his top lip with the same amount of force.

Tenzen was realizing quickly that his position bent over Amaya had greatly reduced his leverage in forcing her legs apart, and she was kicking and thrashing underneath him. Claw like finger nails raked down the side of his face, and he could feel the trickles of blood they left behind them. When the same claws went for his eyes, he was forced to remove a hand from her legs to restrain her other hand. He wished desperately for the girl's other knife, but the weapon was no where to be seen, and when he turned his head to the side to search for it, angry teeth bit down on his ear and pulled with enough force that it threatened to rip off. He'd had to give up the task of opening her legs completely then, needing to somehow restrain her head. He clamped his other hand around her throat; both Amaya's screaming and struggling ceased with strangled gasp.

There was something morbidly beautiful about Amaya in that moment; her eyes defiant even though she was pinned, arms spread wide and naked to a table, body painted with blood that was both her own and others'. It was carnal, the epitome of the way an animal fights hardest in its last moments.

Tenzen's breathing had gone ragged, and his brow was more than dampened by sweat. The corners of his mouth quirked up in a predatory smile. "It's too bad, Amaya-dono…"

xxx

Kisargi Saemon was not one to fidget, but today he seemed unable to sit still at the table with Gennosuke and Hyouma.

"Saemon-dono, I can hear your constant shifting. What is the matter?" Hyouma asked, turning to face the shape shifter.

Saemon's face contorted in a pondering expression as he tried to put words to exactly what was making him so anxious. "I just have a bad feeling," he admitted lamely, "In the pit of my stomach, and I can't seem to figure out the cause. Just that something feels very very wrong."

Both Gennosuke and Hyouma's mouths turned down in frowns; Saemon's strong connection to his sister made such feelings as these accurate more often than not.

"Is something wrong with Okoi-dono?" Hyouma suggested.

Saemon chewed his lip an expression very unlike himself. "I'm not sure. I can't seem to find her. It's like she's not there when I look."

The ninja sitting with him had a vague understanding of Saemon's peculiar connection with his sister, and realized that his inability to "find" her might mean the worst. "We should look for her." Gennosuke was already getting to his feet.

Hyouma nodded agreement, standing up as well and offering a hand to Saemon beside him. The shape shifter's grasp was hesitant. He hadn't meant to worry his companions.

"Akeginu-dono!" Gennosuke spotted Oboro's body guard a little ways down the wall. The woman was a little startled and seemed leery around the other two Kouga ninja with Gennosuke, but she stopped and allowed them to catch up to her. "Have you seen Okoi?"

Akeginu's brow furrowed at the strangeness of the question and the urgency in Gennosuke's voice. "No, I haven't seen her today at all." She paused a moment. "Perhaps she went to see Amaya-dono. The girl is apparently distraught over a kimono decision." Akeginu grinned a little and shook her head at the memory. "If she's with Amaya, than you could find her in the Shogun's chambers," she continued, frowning when the intense look on Gennosuke's face didn't lift. "Gennosuke-sama, is everything alright?"

"I hope so," was all the Kouga leader's answer consisted of before he turned in the direction of the Shogun's quarters in the center of the castle.

They could hear screams as they neared the wooden doors. Servants were scurrying nervously through the halls. Gennosuke snatched the closest one, and she squealed. "What's going on in there?" he demanded.

The woman winced away from him. "I… I don't know! No one answers the door, and we're not allowed to go in unless…" Gennosuke released his grip on her arm and let out an incoherent snarl before she could finish.

The screams had ceased by the time they reached the doors.

"It's too bad, Amaya-dono…" Tenzen was cut off mid-sentence when the great wooden door was flung open with enough force that it smacked against the wall. The thwack and following sound of splintering wood startled Tenzen enough that he jerked his head up and whipped around. An enraged Gennosuke stood in the doorway, the shape shifter Kisargi Saemon and the blind Muroga Hyouma at his back.

"What the hell is going on here?" Gennosuke demanded, stalking forward and hauling Tenzen up off the body he pinned to the table. The immortal ninja didn't resist, though he had the presence of mind to pick up his sword on the way up.

Saemon searched the gory wreck of the room for signs of his sister and he felt his heart sink when he noticed the crumpled, blood soaked figure off the to the right. He squatted down beside the body that was indeed Okoi's, and studied her shredded throat. She must have tried to contact him before she died, but such an injury wouldn't have allowed her much time. He shook his head. He would mourn later. Now, he was going to kill Tenzen.

"Yakushiji Tenzen, you son of a bitch," Saemon snarled.

Gennosuke and Tenzen had been locked in an angry staring contest, Gennosuke glaring because he could not attack Tenzen with the Pact in place, and Tenzen smirking because he knew as much. Hearing Saemon's voice, they both turned to face the seething ninja still crouched beside his fallen sister.

Hyouma had followed the sounds of tear laden gasps and erratic heart beats until his shins knocked against a table. He lowered himself down next to it. "Hyouma-dono," a little voice choked out. Hyouma's eyebrows shot up, barely able to recognize Amaya's voice in such a weakened state.

"Shogun Amaya, why aren't you getting up?" he asked gently.

Amaya had forgotten the man next to her couldn't see, and she struggled to take in several deep breaths so she could coherently explain what was wrong. "My right hand is knifed to the table," she answered. Hyouma shuffled around the table, gauging her position by the sound of her labored breathing. He heard the hiss of a sharp inhale when he touched the knife.

"This will hurt," Hyouma told her, resting his hand on her wrist to hold the appendage in place. He barely waited for Amaya's noise of consent before tugging the knife free.

"Aah!" the girl squeaked out. She jerked her arm out from under his hand and cradled it against her chest. Amaya struggled to pull herself upright with only one hand for leverage, but her body didn't seem to want to cooperate. The room spun, and she started to topple backwards.

Hyouma heard the thunk as Amaya tried to catch herself with her good hand. Amaya felt her arm buckle under her weight. The short inhale prepatory to a collision was Hyouma's only clue that the girl was falling, and he just barely managed to slide his arms around her middle and catch her. He was startled when his hands touched bare skin, and he could feel Amaya's hands fumbling to tug her kimono around to cover herself. The fabric was stiff in places, while overly saturated in others making the task difficult. The coppery tang of blood had assaulted Hyouma's nose as soon as they'd entered the room, but the girl in his arms reeked of the substance. Hyouma could feel the creature in his arms trembling, and he slid his outermost vest-like kimono off his shoulders and wrapped it around her. Amaya gratefully accepted article and curled herself closer to the safety he offered, peering over the arms that held to her to watch the confrontation unfolding.

Unlike Gennosuke, Saemon couldn't care less about the No Hostilities Pact. His sister was dead by Tenzen's hand, and he deserved his revenge. He drew his sword as he got to his feet, then lunged at the smug Iga ninja. Tenzen whipped his own sword up to parry the blow. With a slight grunt of exertion, Saemon forced Tenzen's blade off. In a risky move, he lifted his sword to slice through Tenzen's throat.

Hyouma heard Amaya's tiny shocked gasp and felt her body tense up in his arms. "You really shouldn't watch this," he informed her, gently taking her face in one hand to turn her toward him. It was too late, though, the next events happened in a matter of less than a second.

Tenzen had been expecting the vengeful ninja to aim for his throat, so he slashed his sword into Saemon's side as soon as the other's sword was lifted too high to counter such an attack. Saemon's sword dropped from his hand and he crumpled over, hands clutching at the gaping hole in his middle, blood pouring between his fingers. Tenzen didn't have time to offer any kind of parting words to the Kouga, because Gennosuke's sword shot out and severed his head not an instant later. The arc of arterial spray burst across the wall of kimonos as the headless corpse dropped first to its knees, then toppled forward. Gennosuke kicked the head another dozen and a half feet away from the body before getting down on one knee to see to Saemon. The shape shifter was still alive, if just barely.

Amaya stared in a kind of dazed shock at all of it, then lifted herself out of Hyouma's lap, swatting his hands away when he tried to keep her there. She was trapped in a bad case of tunnel vision. She had no idea she was swaying dangerously back and forth, or that she'd almost fallen completely over to pick up her knife. She tripped over the leg of the table and fell, but she landed on her knees beside Tenzen's prone, headless corpse, which was where she had been aiming. "You bastard!" she screamed at the dead body, lifting her knife and stabbing it into the dead man's back. "Look!" Stab. "What!" Stab. "You have!" Stab. "Done!" This last word was followed by a frantic volley of short thrusts. "Nobody…" Amaya trailed, the anger in her voice dwindling away to tears, then she pounded her fist against his back as she stabbed at him again. "Nobody else was supposed to die!" she sobbed, then stabbed again. "You killed Okoi!" she seethed, stabbing again. "And then you went and died, too! Bastard!" Amaya spit on the body and lifted her arm to plunge her knife in again.

Gennosuke caught her wrist, breaking Amaya out of her trance like rage. The arm in his hand went limp, and the girl attached started to collapse forward, sobbing. "No body else was supposed to die…" she choked out. The knife dropped from her fingers as Gennosuke hauled her up into his arms.

xxx

Akane mindlessly watered her plants, glancing over her shoulder at Akeginu as she did so. "You know something, Akeginu?" she asked, bending down to refill her watering can from the tub on the floor.

"Hmm?" Akeginu lifted her chin out of her hands to listen.

"I think I miss Amaya. I never realized how much enjoyed telling her about all my plants until after she was gone."

Akeginu laughed softly. "Isn't that how it always happens, Akane-san? Not knowing what you have until it is gone."

The slightly older woman nodded agreement. "And isn't it a bitch."

Akeginu just shook her head at her friend's course choice of words.

Frantic pounding on the door made both women jump. "I'll get it, Akane," Akeginu offered, getting up off her stool and going to into the outer room to answer the door.

"Akane-dono!"

Akeginu recognized Gennosuke's voice and flung the fusuma open. Her eyes widened in horror at the picture that greeted her. Gennosuke had a broken, blood stained girl curled in his arms, barely recognizable until dull hazel eyes opened to peer at her. Behind him, stood Hyouma, a blood soaked figure braced against his right side. "Oh my God," Akeginu exhaled. "Akane!" she turned over shoulder and shouted.

The woman hurried out, looking less than pleased that she had been summoned. All the color drained from her face when she saw the group standing in the door. There was blood absolutely everywhere. "I'm an apothecary," she snarled, "Not a goddamn doctor! What the hell are you doing bringing them here?" she demanded irritably. Without giving anyone time to make a response, she pushed past them into the hall and yelled as loudly as she could. "_Jiro!_"

A tall, lanky man scurried out of the next room. "Akane-dono?" he started, then saw the people standing in the hall. He turned and shoved the fusuma across the way open. "Bring him in here, please," he gestured Hyouma to follow him into the room with Saemon.

Seeing one of the two injured figures taken care of, Akane turned to Gennosuke. "Bring her in. I'll see what I can do until Jiro can look at her." Akeginu realized then that Akane had not recognized her daughter yet.

Gennosuke carefully laid Amaya down on the futon her mother was laying out. The girl clung to the front of his kimono, loath to let her protector go. He gently pried her fingers out of the fabric, and as he stepped back, Akane gasped. "Oh God… Amaya-chan, what happened?"

Gennosuke opened his mouth to answer, but Akane made a terse gesture to silence him. "You may leave now," she gritted at him, and he could hear in her voice that it was a struggle for her not to snap the order.

Akane dropped down next her daughter and carefully peeled away the layers of blood saturated clothing. She hissed. A good amount of blood had seeped through to stain the skin beneath a sickly shade of red. "Akeginu, can you bring me the tub from the back and some cloths?"

Akeginu didn't answer, just hurried to retrieve the items in question. As she knelt down next to Akane with the tub and stack of towels, Amaya turned her head to face her. "Akeginu-dono," a hoarse voice murmured. "I'm sorry."

Akeginu visibly started at the apology, and Akane was more than a little surprised as well, but she continued to wash away the gruesome red stains on Amaya's skin. "Amaya-dono, I can't imagine what for."

"Tenzen is dead, and I can't help but think it is my fault. I'm sorry, you've lost another clansmen because of me."

"Amaya-dono, what in the world are you talking about?" Akeginu stammered. "Did you kill Tenzen?"

The bruised girl shook her head. "No. He attacked me, and so Gennosuke-sama killed him." Tears started to trickle from the corners of Amaya's eyes. "I didn't want him to die, Akeginu, I swear," Amaya pleaded. "Just wanted him to leave… didn't even know why he wanted to kill me…"

Akeginu reached and gently stroked Amaya's cheek. She could think of plenty of reasons Tenzen would have wanted to kill the little Shogun, and she was disappointed that her fellow Iga ninja would actually act on such hostile feelings. "I couldn't possibly hold you accountable for his Tenzen's death, Amaya. No one could."

Amaya turned her head out of Akeginu's caress, and stared up at the ceiling, biting her lip as more tears streamed down her cheeks, disappearing into blood matted hair and leaving clean streaks through the spots of blood on the girl's face. "Do you think Saemon-dono will live?" she asked.

Akeginu didn't have an answer, but Akane did. "Have more faith in Jiro, Amaya-chan. He may be a lousy husband, but he's a damn fine doctor. Why else would Ieyasu let him stay here?"

It was a good enough answer for Amaya. Her head dropped to the side again, as though it was too hard to hold it facing the ceiling, though this time she faced away from Akeginu. The rest of the washing process was held in silence. "You'll need stitches in a few places," Akane broke the silence when she was finished, "But nothing too major. Give a me a moment, and I'll get what I need from Jiro." She gracefully got to her feet and left, closing the fusuma quietly behind her.

The pink tinge of blood washed away, the actual injuries done to Amaya's body were clearly visible: a slit along her hip, another along her breastbone, a puncture through her hand, and mottled mess of torn flesh and bruising just above her right breast. Akeginu gasped. "Amaya-dono…" she trailed, afraid to ask the question, "Is that bite mark?"

The girl was completely silent and completely still for a moment before she nodded slowly, then spoke, coldly, bitterly, "And before you ask, yes, _that_ was what he was intending to do."

"Amaya-dono…"

Amaya shook her head, more tears falling from her eyes, and bit down on her lip. "Don't feel sorry for me. I'm going to be okay. Feel sorry for Saemon…" she trailed, thinking of Okoi.

Akeginu's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Saemon will be okay, too, Amaya-dono. I don't understand…"

"Okoi won't."

Akeginu cut off mid-sentence.

"Tenzen killed her. She was holding me, because I was terrified; I thought I'd killed him… She shouldn't have died; Tenzen was there to kill me… If she hadn't come…"

"Amaya, stop it," Akeginu interrupted.

Amaya's mouth shut with an audible click, a little startled by Akeginu's terseness.

"You cannot hold yourself responsible for the destruction Tenzen caused because he was pissed off about the Pact's reinstallation," she explained bluntly, and as soon as she said it Amaya's face contorted in a horrified expression. Akeginu realized she had said nothing to comfort the new Shogun.

Akane returned before Akeginu could fumble out a coherent way to relieve Amaya of her guilt. "Your hand and the two slices need stitching," Akane explained, threading a needle. "I'm going to give you antiseptic for the bite. It will burn, but God knows what diseases the vile asshole that did this to you had. I have a balm for the bruises and scrapes for you also."

"Thank you," Amaya muttered.

Akane snorted. "Don't thank me. I'm you're mother; it's the very least I could do."

Amaya was getting used to that response.

Maybe it was that she was too tired to notice, or that nothing could compare to the humiliation and pain she had already been put through, but Amaya sat silent and still through the painful ordeal of stitching her few open wounds closed. When she was finished, Akane stood. "I'm going to find Amaya clothes," she explained when she was almost through the door.

"Amaya…" Akeginu began as soon as the girl's mother had slipped out.

"No. Don't say anything. I understand. The reinstallation of the No Hostilities Pact got Okoi-dono and Tenzen killed. My second attempt at preventing bloodshed took two lives, just like the first. I understand." Amaya's voice was a frighteningly cold dead pan, and Akeginu realized sadly that there was no arguing with her.

xxx

More servants than usual were rushing about the Shogun's quarters when Koshirou went to visit Amaya. They all cast him frightened glances as he passed, and many clutched tighter at and hunched over the loads they carried. He was more than a little surprised to see the great wooden doors of the Shogun's rooms open. Not just open, Koshirou realized, reaching up to touch the cracked top most hinge, lodged open. The handle had broken through the adjacent wall, and he traced his fingers over the ornate gold handle that protruded through the thin wall. A servant scurried out and collided with him hard enough that she was knocked to the ground and the mound of cloths in her arms scattered.

She and Koshirou both started to stammer apologies. Koshirou's cut off suddenly as he bent to help her retrieve her load. The towel he picked up was stained the familiar red shade of blood. All the towels she carried were stained, he realized, fear creeping into the pit of his stomach. "Wha… What's going on?" he stammered, staring dumbly at both servant girl and blood stained cloth.

"I don't know what happened," the girl explained as she got to her feet, taking the cloth dangling limply from Koshirou's hand as she did so. "We were just told to clean it up." She hurried away, glancing back over her shoulder only once at him to make sure he hadn't fainted or something. The last thing she wanted to deal with was someone else passing out at the sight and smell of blood.

Koshirou stood slowly and took another two steps so that he stood in the open doorway. There was a girl kneeling on the table, scrubbing fiercely at the wood surface. A pile of soiled towels was on the floor beside her; a pile of pristine ones were stacked next to her on the table. Another girl was in a slightly shadowed corner, scouring the floor, similar stacks of cleaning cloths around her. The room was at best, half cleaned. Another grisly puddle was in front of the desk, and there were still what appeared to be the remains of bloody footprints marring the floor. Perhaps the most disturbing stain, though, was the almost artistic spatter of blood that made a perfect arc over three kimonos.

The pang of fear Koshirou felt for Amaya's safety was painful in his chest, and he whipped around and stumbled out. He consoled himself with the fact that she couldn't be dead; surely news of another dead Shogun would have reached him by now. He had to find someone who would know what had happened. Akeginu was the first person to come to mind, and he rushed to find the older woman's rooms.

Akeginu's fusuma had been propped open, and the she was not inside. Struggling to hold panic at bay, Koshirou whipped around and pounded on Oboro's door, hoping his leader would know where her confidante was. He was surprised to hear tears when the echo of his pounding faded away.

"Who's there?" The voice was Gennosuke's.

"Koshirou," he answered as he slid the fusuma open, deciding not to wait to be admitted. "Oboro-sama!" he blurted, a little shocked at what he found inside. The Iga cheiftess was curled in Gennosuke's lap, the sounds her sobbing clearly audible. He started to stammer an apology, not sure what was going on and afraid that he was intruding, and was backing out the door when Gennosuke spoke.

"What do you want, Koshirou?" he asked, voice not betraying if he was irritated by the younger ninjas presence.

"I… I was looking for Akeginu. I was hoping she would know where Amaya was."

Gennosuke downcast his eyes. Koshirou felt the fear gnaw a little harder at his insides. Akeginu and Amaya-dono both are with Akane-san," he replied.

Koshirou felt his heart sink at the answer. "Th… thank you, Gennosuke-sama," he stammered out hurriedly and slid the fusuma shut.

He didn't knock before ripping the door to Akane's workspace open. Akane started to snarl an angry curse at him, but abruptly cut herself off. Her startled silence caused the other two women to turn toward the door and face the intruder. Koshirou didn't notice Akeginu's sad stare; he only saw the pair of broken hazel eyes that peered around her shoulder. A trace of horror flickered through them before Amaya's hands came up to hide the bruising that marred most of her face and shifted a little so his view of her was almost completely blocked by Akeginu's body.

"Koshirou-dono," the tiny voice was barely familiar, "Please, go." Tears were laced through the quiet command, and Koshirou was torn. He stared for a moment longer, than took a hesitant step toward her. "Go!" There was a little more force in this teary order. "Please, just leave…" As quickly as the trace of strength had come it trailed away into choked back sobs.

Confused gray eyes darted between Akeginu and the curled figure behind her. The Iga woman slowly got to her feet, and as her shield stood, Amaya ducked her face down into her knees. Koshirou didn't miss the bandaged hand that clutched tightly in the fabric of Amaya's kimono as the girl hugged her knees to her chest. He wanted to go to her, but Akeginu caught his arm and used it to guide him out the door.

"Koshirou," Akeginu spoke carefully and didn't release her hold on his arm until she was sure he wasn't going to try and go back in. Slowly he turned away from the closed fusuma back to look at her, a million questions written on his face. "Tenzen attacked her," Akeginu answered before he could ask. "He tried to have his way with her, was intending to kill her because she reinstated the Pact. Right now she's mess; she'll come to you when's she's ready…"

Koshirou had stopped hearing her. For the briefest of moments he was shocked by his master's behavior, but the shock was quickly replaced by anger. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Where the hell is Tenzen?" he demanded hotly.

Akeginu hung her head. "Dead. Gennosuke-sama killed him."

Koshirou's eyes went wide. That was the last thing he expected to hear. Guilt ridden sadness rose like bile in his throat. The bastard deserved it, he tried to tell himself, but the nauseatingly loyal part of him was infuriated. Unsure what to think, he turned and stalked away.

Koshirou never had any kind of poker face. Akeginu watched the struggle of conflicting emotions on his face. She had almost been expecting a more volatile reaction from him. The kunoichi sighed and shook her head, knowing that Koshirou's loyalty to Tenzen would always being a looming shadow over his and Amaya's relationship, though it would best be left to another day to figure out.

xxx

Koshirou's toe connected harshly with the wall of his room. His hiss of pain accompanied the rip of the paper covering. He scowled at the offending wall and dropped to a sitting position. Still unable to sort his thoughts out, he thrust his leg out again. This time he used the ball of his foot, and not only was the action less painful, it splintered the wood some. However, there was no solution in the damaged structure. Koshirou caught his forehead in his hands, then ran his fingers through his hair, breathing out a strangled snarl as he did so. He dropped onto his back with a thud that sounded like it hurt, but if it did, Koshirou's features didn't show as much. His face was contorted with confusion.

He had begun to question his loyalty to Tenzen after the man had hurled the insult of traitor at him for "consorting" with Amaya. In a way, this should have been the final straw to shatter any respect he had left for the man. He had wanted to defile and kill Amaya, and he most certainly cared more about his love than he did for his teacher.

But at the news of Tenzen's death, Koshirou felt what few sparks of dedication he had left for his master rush back to him. Anger at Gennosuke had overwhelmed him and overpowered whatever fury he felt for Tenzen. All of which had been followed by painful guilt. Koshirou draped an arm over his eyes as though it would do something to help. He swallowed hard, struggling to convince himself that he didn't care that Tenzen was dead, that he would have killed his sensei himself for Amaya. No matter how much determination he welded into the thought, there was always underlying doubt.

Despair started to tug at Koshirou, and he flopped onto his side, arms reaching out in front of him. He could hate what Tenzen had done to Amaya with his entire being, and yet couldn't find it in himself to hate Tenzen himself – he scrunched his eyes shut and pounded his fist into the floor – no matter how badly he wanted to.

A timid knock on the fusuma interrupted his internal tirade, and he hurriedly sat up. For the briefest second, he hoped it was Amaya, but the respectful voice that spoke did not belong to her.

"Shogun Amaya has requested an audience with both the Iga and Kouga ninjas," the messenger spoke.

Puzzled, Koshirou got to his feet and followed the servant girl to the center most courtyard.

xxx

Hattori Hanzo cast a worried glance down at Amaya. The girl looked less than the part of Shogun in the simple kimono, minimal makeup, and barely maintained hair, and she seemed to sway dangerously every once in a while, but always managed to regain her balance before he could offer an arm for support. Her eyes flickered noticeably between bold and broken, and it was hard to miss the way her jaw trembled even though she had tried to set it. She refused to talk about what had happened in her chambers earlier that day, but her bruised faced and bandaged hand gave away that her life had been in danger.

Hanzo reached and opened the door before Amaya could, ignoring the girl's glare when he did so. Breaking protocol, as soon as the door was opened, Amaya paraded out, leaving Hanzo and Munenori to hurry after her, Munenori snarling curses under his breath. The girl hoisted herself less than gracefully onto her platform, and instead of kneeling, hung her legs over the front, swinging them languidly back and forth.

Amaya was aware of heads lifting just slightly when their owners thought she wasn't looking and shooting her confused looks. Most of the ninja were subtle in their staring, but as she scanned her audience, she locked eyes with Koshirou who had brazenly lifted his head, and under his stare her bold exterior faltered. She bit down on her lip out of habit and her cold eyes softened for the briefest of seconds seeing the worry on his face. At her right knee, Hanzo coughed, and Amaya suddenly replaced her blank mask and jerked her gaze away from Koshirou.

Amaya was trying too hard to seem strong and the act was less than convincing, especially after Koshirou saw her brief slip. It was like when one notices a single flaw, suddenly they find a hundred more. Her eyes, though cold, darted nervously. Her fingers drummed silently against the platform on either side of her body, and the swing of her legs was too stiff to be the lazy movement of a girl trying to defy the traditional etiquette of Shogun. Amaya was fighting her every instinct to prevent breaking down, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite hide it.

"You know I don't talk to the tops of heads," Amaya snapped without facing her audience. Her gaze was trained on the sky to her left, and her words came out too hurriedly to sound irritated.

Slowly, bowed heads lifted to look at the Shogun who wouldn't look back at them.

"It has come to my attention – " Amaya swallowed nervously " – that the reinstatement of the No Hostilities Pact was not necessarily appreciated by the Iga and Kouga clans. Apparently, some of you would have preferred to have the chance to slit each other's throats." She paused and turned frighteningly angry eyes on her audience. "Whether you believe it or not, the Pact is for your own good. As you know, two lives were lost today _because_ of the Pact's reinstallation, because a ninja wanted his 'deserved' revenge. Revenge is to fight blood with blood, and all that leads to is more blood until we all drown." Her voice was harsh, but with an underlying tinge of sadness. Amaya hopped from her perch on the platform. She stumbled at little, but maintained composure and leaned back, arms resting on it behind her. "Because it apparently was not clear to all of you before when I re-put the No Hostilities Pact in place, I'm going to be more blunt. I hereby decree that no more blood be shed, be it Kouga, Iga, or anyone else's on account of this foolish feud started four hundred fucking years ago." Her voice started to break down and the last several words sounded as though she was stumbling into hysteria. If she had continued to speak, her emotionally disastrous state would been put on display, but she said no more, only turned abruptly and stalked out, leaving Munenori and Hanzo to again rush after her.

As he watched her leave, Koshirou noticed the lone tear track staining Amaya's cheek.

As soon as they rounded the corner of Amaya's temporary quarters while the Shogun's quarters were being repaired, Munenori lashed out. "What the fuck kind of behavior was that?" he demanded. "You neither acted nor spoke like a Shogun. And what the hell was that breakdown at the end? Keep your emotional trauma out of you political position!"

Tears welled up in Amaya's eyes, and she spun around to face him. For a moment all she could do was glare. "Get out," she finally snapped. "Just get the fuck out." If not for the fact that she was in tears, Amaya's voice would have been deadly calm.

Munenori huffed at her, as though he was debating whether he should actually obey, before turning up his nose and leaving. Amaya didn't notice the blatant disrespect. She let herself into her chambers and collapsed in a chair, catching her head in her hands as she did so. Hanzo hesitantly decided to follow her.

"Amaya-dono," he said gently, walking into the room and standing a respectful distance away from the girl. "Munenori-san may have been being an ass about it, but he is right. You can't behave like this as Shogun, especially if you refuse to tell us what is wrong. What if there was something we could have done to fix it."

Amaya lifted apologetic eyes out from behind her hands. "I'm sorry, Hanzo-dono," she began, but was interrupted by knocking on the door. Amaya started to lift herself up to get it, but Hanzo gestured she stay and went himself. He slid open the fusuma just enough to see who was there.

Hanzo turned back toward Amaya, who was staring intently at the ajar fusuma. "It's Koshirou," he told her.

Amaya stared blankly at him for just a moment before speaking. "Let him in, please, Hanzo-dono, and then if you would leave us alone?" she requested quietly.

"Of course, my lady." He let the young Iga ninja in, and then discreetly slipped out.

Amaya bit her lip to stop it from trembling as Koshirou moved toward her. She struggled desperately to hold her tears at bay. He had to know what happened, and she was scared, so very scared of what he would think of her. Amaya bowed her head down, suddenly afraid to meet his eyes. The last traces of Amaya's composure shattered when Koshirou wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. Amaya reached her hands up and fisted them in his kimono, uncertain if she wanted to force him away or pull him closer. The tears she had been struggling to hold at bay poured down her cheeks, and when he heard her sobs, Koshirou gently raised a hand to hold her head against his shoulder. Amaya was tense in his arms for a moment longer before finally giving in and collapsing against him, hands falling limply from his chest and thumping dulling on the arms of her chair.

"Shh," Koshirou soothed, "It's alright. You're okay." He was fumbling, unsure what to say to the broken creature in his arms.

"I…" Amaya struggled to speak through her tears, "I… didn't think… I wasn't sure if you would…" A slightly louder fit of tears interrupted her, and her hands came back up to fist in his kimono, though this time they were most definitely holding him closer. "…wasn't sure if you would take me back," she managed to choke out.

Koshirou opened his mouth to demand an explanation for such a ludicrous suggestion, but Amaya continued.

"Tenzen's hands… his mouth… he tried… he almost… he wanted to…" Koshirou could hear the evident pain in her voice as she recalled the memories, still raw in her mind.

"Amaya," Koshirou silenced her stammering gently and tightened his arms around her, "How could I possibly hold that against you?"

Amaya's mind irrationally searched for a reason it didn't want to find. It finally gave up, and she leaned into Koshirou, slowly twining her arms around his waist and shifting some to press herself impossibly closer to him, terrified of losing him. "Because it's my fault Tenzen is dead," she gritted out the unrelated answer. She felt Koshirou wince a little, and she tightened her hold on him. Thick silence followed the words, broken only by the gradually increasing volume of Amaya's tears.

Finally Koshirou spoke, tenderly lifting Amaya's face so he could look her in the eyes. She furiously struggled to blink back her tears. Koshirou softly wiped them away with his thumbs because it seemed to be the right thing to do. "Not your fault," he corrected. "Tenzen's fault. He had it coming, for disregarding the Pact and intending to harm you." As he spoke, he realized that he believed every word, that he was slowly coming to terms with his master's death.

"Do you mean that?" Amaya whispered timidly, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Yes," Koshirou answered, voice quiet but firm.

Amaya's eyes drooped closed, and any last traces of tension drained away from her body. Her grip on his waist loosened until her arms were merely draped around his hips, wrists crossed behind his back. "Koshirou-dono?" she murmured.

"Hmm?" He bowed his head down to look at her.

"I love you," she said quietly; her eyes squeezed shut a little tighter as she waited for his response, and Koshirou felt her start when he gently stroked her cheek.

"I love you, too, Amaya-dono," he replied, awkwardly bending down a little to press a chaste kiss to her bruised cheek. He reached and carefully lifted her up into his arms, then turned and sat with Amaya curled in his lap. They sat snuggled together like that in companionable silence for a few long moments before Amaya spoke again, notably without exerting the effort to open her eyes.

"I don't want to be Shogun," she said bluntly, voice still a little hoarse from crying.

Koshirou bit back his usual response to such a complaint, and decided to humor Amaya. "Why?" He wasn't expecting such a serious answer.

"I didn't solve anything," she admitted. "The whole purpose of taking this position of authority was to reinstate the Pact and put an end to the Kouga / Iga feud forever, and I failed. Despite everything I've done to stop the blood shed, six members of the clans are dead, as well as Ieyasu and Kunichiyo. So much for the end of bloodshed."

Koshirou rested his chin on Amaya's shoulder and pressed another affectionate kiss to her cheek. "I won't let you take blame for Ogen-sama and Danjo," he told her. "And take no offense at my words, koi." He couldn't help but pause and smile at the faint blush that dusted Amaya's cheeks following the use of the pet name. "But it was rather naïve of you to think there was a bloodless solution to a four hundred year old dispute."

Amaya's face contorted into a brooding expression, not liking this answer, so Koshirou continued. "Don't think in terms of lives lost, Amaya," he said gently. "Think in terms of lives saved. Fourteen members still live, and the raging desire for revenge has died down since you reinstalled the Pact." Koshirou was struggling for words, trying to get as many reasons as he could to lift Amaya's spirits crammed into his answer.

Amaya mulled over this a moment, brow furrowed in an obvious "thinking" expression, before she answered. "I still don't want to be Shogun."

Koshirou shook his head and didn't question the statement again. "I think you're a fine Shogun."

He thought he heard the faintest noise of laughter, and grinned. He'd been frightened by Amaya's behavior, afraid Tenzen's abuse would cause her to disappear into a hallow shell of herself like the disturbingly broken creature that had delivered the decree earlier that morning.

The next time Koshirou looked down at Amaya, the girl was asleep. He should have expected as much, considering her day. He stood carefully and headed toward her sleeping chambers, toeing the fusuma open as far as he could and squirming through. Much to his relief, her futon was already unrolled and made, likely because she intended to go to sleep as soon as she returned her chambers. He laid her down, and awkwardly tugged the sheets around her as best he could. Koshirou was almost out the door when Amaya spoke.

"Please don't leave," she requested quietly.

Koshirou paused a moment, realizing that Amaya had by no means completely recovered from her morning's trauma. "I'll be right outside the door," he answered. He heard Amaya's relieved sigh just before he slid the fusuma shut.

xxx

Amaya awoke to the pitter patter of rain against the window. She crawled out of her futon and moved across the dark room to stand at the window. She had to raise herself up onto her toes so she could peer out at the rainy night. Amaya sighed and wished absently that she could open the window and let the heady scent of summer rain into the room. With the sudden desire to inhale the rain smell set in her mind, she went to get Koshirou to go outside with her. Amaya grinned when she reached the fusuma, hearing the quiet sounds of snores from the figure on the other side. She headed back to her futon, then and sat down, hoping the rain would still be falling when Koshirou woke up.

A particularly loud thud against the window made Amaya jump, and her hand to flew to the catch for one of her knives. They had been cleaned and returned to her as soon as possible. Her head whipped around, but there was nothing in the window. She decided it was for the better that Koshirou had been asleep, because apparently the rain had turned to a hail.

Another knock startled Amaya worse. The noises didn't sound like the consistent pounding of hail, and she could feel fear starting to freeze her insides. She stayed completely still, and the frantic pounding of her heart against her ribs was painfully loud in the silent room. Images of Tenzen flooded her mind, and she felt nauseous at the concept of the ninja returning to life again. The next thud against the window caused the glass to crack, and Amaya unhooked her knife. She wanted to scream for Koshirou, but only a rasping gasp came out; her vocal chords wouldn't respond.

The window shattered, though the noise was swallowed by a simultaneous crash of thunder. Three men, covered from head to toe in black fabric but for a slit for their eyes, crawled through. This time Amaya did scream, and she flung the knife in her hand. She had never had need of actually throwing her knives, though, and the spin was wrong. The hilt of the weapon glanced off the right most ninjas shoulder uselessly and clattered to the ground. Amaya started to scrambled backwards on all fours, but her feet tangled in the sheets, hindering her progress.

One of them snickered, and the centermost man fell on her, his own knife drawn and raised to slit his throat. Amaya beat him there; her left knife already unhooked. She slashed out at him, and cut deeply into his throat. He fell to the side, gurgling and moaning as blood spurted from his gaping throat and bubbled from his mouth. Amaya clenched her blood soaked weapon tightly in her hand, breathing raggedly and struggling to maintain a proper glare at her attackers. The next lunged at her, the one whom she had knocked with her poorly thrown weapon.

He never made it to her. Amaya watched with morbid awe as a crescent shaped blade buried itself in the man's side and knocked him across the room, blood gushing out in a great plume from the injury.

The last assassin's head whipped around frightfully, and his wide eyes locked with Koshirou's dangerously narrowed ones. He fumbled to yank a sword out, but Koshirou had snatched his wrists and tossed him to the ground before he could completely free the blade. He dropped down on him and pressed his remaining kama against the man's throat. "Who the hell sent you?" he demanded.

The figure beneath him stammered incoherently for a moment about how he couldn't say, so Koshirou forced the blade down a little further, breaking the skin, causing the man to keen wordlessly in a plea for his life. "The… the Toyotomi family…" he gasped out.

Koshirou snorted, recognizing the name as a family competing with the Tokugawa. "Some ninja you are," he muttered at the pathetic creature beneath him, wondering absently if his fallen companions would have so easily given up the name of their employer. For Amaya's sake, he spared the man the gory death of shredding his face, and instead pressed the blade of the kama a little tighter until it easily slit the throat beneath.

Amaya had backed herself against a wall, clutching her last knife with a grasp so tight her hands trembled. Koshirou knelt in front of her, reaching out carefully and prying the bloody weapon from her fingers. "Amaya-dono, are you okay?" he asked, uncertain how much of the blood staining her kimono belonged to her.

She swallowed hard, but managed to nod.

"Are you sure?" he asked, gesturing her drenched kimono, the second one ruined today by blood.

Amaya looked down at the ruined garment and started to sob, and Koshirou realized the girl hadn't noticed all the blood until just then. She nodded again and managed to choke out through her tears, "It… it's all his." She pointed to the ninja sprawled on his side, head bent at awkward angle.

Koshirou gathered Amaya into his arms as soon as it was confirmed he wouldn't hurt her by doing so. He carried her out of the room and closed the fusuma behind him, hiding the gory wreck within from Amaya's broken eyes.

"Koshirou… why… who were they?" Amaya asked hesitantly.

"Assassins from a rival ruling family," he answered.

Amaya pondered this for several seconds before speaking. "They wanted to kill me…" she trailed. "They wanted to kill me just because I was the Tokugawa Shogun?" she asked for clarification.

Koshirou swallowed hard and nodded, waiting for the inevitable next statement.

"I don't want to be Shogun anymore," Amaya said with a little more force than all the previous times she had said it. "I… I just can't."

Koshirou found that he really couldn't blame her after everything that had happened today.

* * *

A/N: only one chapter left now 


	8. Puddles

A/N: Wow. So, it's been almost a year since I touched this last. I won't lie. I never planned to finish it. My notes for this last chapter were miserably incomplete. I honestly didn't think I could produce anything good from them, but this isn't too bad. I'm afraid I went a little crazy using "dono" like I forgot how to use the other honorifics, but I doubled checked, and I think it's okay. Uhm... jeez, i wish I had more i could say here, I mean it's THE LAST CHAPTER. Yeah. Wow.

Claimer: Eiko is mine. Though she was almost so insignificant i didn't bother to put her here...

Warnings: some language, strong violence

* * *

**Firefly Effect  
Puddles**

The Shogun's desk and its matching chair were the only furniture that had survived without blood stain during Tenzen's attack. Hattori Hanzo had these valuable pieces of furniture relocated to a room beside Amaya's most recent bedchambers because matters of state could not wait until the blood stains that marred the Shogun's quarters faded.

The European imports took up almost a third of their new space, and they looked out of place in what had previously been only a spare room. The walls were a plain rice paper white, a stark contrast to the desk's greens and reds and golds, and no one had yet hung tapestries or placed flowers.

Hanzo had never before noticed the way the oversized furniture dwarfed Amaya. Her feet did not touch the ground, but rather dangled limply a few inches above. The backs of her knees touched the chairs edge, but six inches of space remained between Amaya and the chair's back. Because of the room's dimensions, the desk and chair could not be situated to face the door, so even though Amaya faced straight ahead, she did not notice Hanzo and Munenori enter.

"Shogun Amaya," Hanzo greeted, bending at the waist in a respectful bow. Munenori did the same.

Amaya turned only her head to acknowledge her advisors. "Good morning," she responded, after she looked away.

"I trust you are well enough to discuss the events of last night?" Hanzo offered. For the first time in her brief reign, Amaya had not glowered at him and Munenori upon their arrival, and Hanzo worried it was a sign that Amaya was not in the best health.

"I am." Amaya did not meet ether man's eyes when she answered. "We should sit." She looked between the two men's heads, past them to the low table with two zabuton on each side. They nodded and took their places on the table's far side.

Amaya first unfolded her hands and lifted them from her lap to the arms of the chair, which she used for leverage in hoisting herself out of the seat. Her strides to the table were slow, and she braced herself on the table's edge when she lowered herself onto a pillow. Hanzo caught the traces of a grimace on her face as she did so, and he glimpsed the bandage wrapped around her palm before she settled herself and tugged her kimono sleeve to cover it.

"Now," Amaya shook a strand of hair from her face and for the first time met Hanzo and Munenori's eyes. "About last night. I was attacked."

"Yes," Hanzo agreed. "A rival family sent assassins."

"The Toyotomi family. I know; Koshirou told me."

"They are always keeping watch," Hanzo explained, "And they have been looking for an opportunity to destroy the Tokugawa Shogunate, especially since the distress over the heir decision began, even more so when they learned Ieyasu was dead. Your relocation to less central quarters, they thought, would be the best opportunity."

Amaya nodded. She was pensively silent for a moment, staring at the bland white wall to her right as though it could tell her what to say. "I see," she finally spoke, then glanced at the floor before looking back toward her advisors. "Are these kinds of attacks, then, common?"

"They are not uncommon," Hanzo admitted.

Amaya chewed her bottom lip. It was the answer she dreaded, but was certain was coming, and she dragged her eyes down from the paper walls to the mats beneath her knees. It only made her more sure of what she wanted to do. Amaya slowly nodded her understanding. Her fingers twisted together under the table, knotting and unknotting in the fabric of her kimono.

"I…" she began with uncertainty, again looking Hanzo and Munenori in the face and trying to muster up a bold façade. "I would like, I mean, I need… I have to…" She couldn't say it. She dropped her eyes into her lap where her hands continued to squirm. She squeezed them into fists on her knees, and felt her finger nails bite into her palms as she fought to hold frustrated tears at bay.

"I do not want anything like what happened last night to tarnish Oboro and Gennosuke-sama's wedding day," she blurted. She set her mouth in a line and squared her shoulders. "How can I be sure there isn't another attack?"

When she finally managed to look at them again, Amaya saw the corners of Munenori's mouth were turned down in a frown and his arms were crossed over his chest. Hanzo's hands remained at rest on his knees, but both his eyebrows shot up.

"Well?" Amaya pushed when neither man said anything.

Hanzo offered Amaya a small smile. "Shogun Amaya, two clans of well respected and well known ninja are going to be in Sunpu. Not even the Toyotomi's are arrogant enough to try and attack then. You need not worry."

"Oh," Amaya squeaked. "Thank you, Hanzo-dono."

He nodded.

Amaya twisted her finger into a thread that had pulled loose from the zabuton's seam. She wrapped it once, twice, three times around before her finger was tied flush against the soft red fabric. She tried to tug it free, but the string just pulled tighter. Amaya gave her hand a yank. The thread snapped, effectively freeing her hand. Under the table, she used her other hand to roll the tightly wrapped string off her fingertip. "Is there anything else we need to discuss today?" she asked, splitting her attention between her advisors and her finger.

"No, I do not believe so," Hanzo answered, getting to his feet.

"Good day, then." She did not watch them exit.

"Good day to you, too, Amaya-dono, and I hope you feel better soon."

Amaya froze, startled by Hanzo's perceptiveness, and said nothing in response.

She waited until the fusuma clicked shut, then let her self spill backwards onto the floor. She flung her arms out away from her body and uncurled her legs so they stretched under the table. She lifted the hand the string had been tied to above her face so she could examine it. A thin red line circled her ring finger's second joint. She let the arm drop back to the floor and her eyes droop closed.

The fusuma opened, and Amaya started to scramble back up. She was propped on her elbows, when Koshirou finally spoke. "It's only me."

Amaya allowed herself to collapse back onto the floor. She turned her head to the side, and was staring at Koshirou's feet. He sat down cross legged beside her head, but said nothing else. Amaya rolled onto her side so that her forehead touched his knee. She stretched her arms out in front of her.

"You didn't tell them."

"No."

"Why?"

"Stupid pride."

"You can't go on like this."

Amaya didn't answer.

"You said so yourself."

"After the wedding, Koshirou, I promise, after the wedding."

Koshirou laid a hand on Amaya's head, then ran his fingers lovingly through her hair.

"After the wedding," Amaya repeated, letting her eyes fall closed again.

xxx

Amaya had sat for nearly twenty minutes hunched over the piece of parchment, rolling her pen between two fingers, only stopping the mindless task to dip the tip into the ink well because it had dried. She propped her elbow on the desk and dropped her cheek into her palm. Amaya glanced first out the window and then at Eiko, standing with her hands folded in front of her. When the servant girl saw Amaya look out the window, she turned her head to look as well. It had started to rain.

"I'm sorry, Eiko," Amaya said, shaking her head at the blank parchment.

"It's not a problem, Amaya-dono. Perhaps I could be of assistance? To whom are you writing? What would you like to say?"

Amaya replied with a small smile. "That's alright, Eiko, but thank you." Amaya dipped the pen into the well again and this time put the tip to the paper. She watched the circle of ink spread further and further from the pen. '_It is urgent that I meet with you,_' she finally wrote. She lifted the sheet up and waved it back and forth a half dozen times to hurry the ink's drying before folding the parchment neatly in thirds and handing it to Eiko. "Deliver this to Hattori Hanzo, please."

Eiko took the letter, folded it in half width wise, and tucked it into her obi. "Of course, Amaya-dono." She bowed deeply before letting herself out.

Amaya caught her face in both hands, then ran them up through her hair. They came away splotched with white makeup and sticky with the last traces of hair product. Irritably, she wiped them on the bottom of the desk before standing and walking to the window. There was carpet beneath her feet, when once there had been just wood. She forced the memory away and fixed her attention on the sheets of rain pouring from the sky.

She felt a twinge of guilt having sent Eiko out in such weather so late.

xxx

Hanzo stood beside his bed, hands on his belt to untie it, when someone knocked. He sighed and resigned himself to slide open the door.

"Sorry to disturb your sleep, sir, but a servant from the palace is here, delivering a message from the Shogun," his doorman explained with a bow.

Hanzo nodded and thanked the man before brushing past him to meet with the castle servant.

She was standing just inside the entrance way, sopping wet. As soon as she saw him, she removed the folded parchment from her obi and handed it to him.

"You should come in, dry yourself off, stay until the storm…" Hanzo trailed, having actually read the brief note. "Or perhaps not." He looked the servant girl in the face, and Eiko was startled by the intensity in the look. "Do you know what this is about?"

"No, sir," she stammered. "I haven't even read it."

"Did Amaya write this herself?"

Eiko was puzzled by the question, and cocked her head to one side when she answered. "Yes, sir. I watched her do so."

Hanzo hissed out through his teeth. He could still hear the pattering of rain on the roof and it was after dark. What could the girl possibly want at this hour? "Are you sure it is 'urgent'?" he tried one final time.

Eiko's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I'm sure if Amaya-dono wrote that it is urgent, it is, sir."

Hanzo sighed and tucked the note into his own clothing. "Then I suppose it's back to Castle Sunpu with the two of us."

xxx

Amaya clutched the window sill so tightly her knuckles were white and the texture of the wood imprinted itself onto her finger tips. She could feel her stomach churning and she squinted her eyes shut against the nausea. She wished she could take the note back. Suddenly she wasn't sure she could do this.

"Amaya-dono?"

Amaya jumped.

"Forgive me, Amaya-dono, I didn't mean to startle you," Eiko apologized with a quick bow. "You didn't answer when I knocked…"

Amaya turned to look over her shoulder at the girl and smiled. Her heart was thudding against her ribs with so much force she was surprised Eiko couldn't hear it. "It's fine, Eiko, don't worry about it. Is Hanzo-dono with you?"

Eiko nodded. "Should I send him in, Amaya-dono?"

"Yes, please. Thank you, Eiko."

Eiko went to the fusuma, still partially open from when she had entered, and poked her head through. "Shogun Amaya will see you now, Hanzo-dono."

"Good evening, Shogun Amaya," Hanzo greeted as amiably as he could manage.

"Good evening, Hanzo," she greeted in kind without turning away from the window. "You may leave us now, Eiko. Thank you."

Amaya never looked more regal than she did staring at the drenched world just outside the window with her hands clasped behind her back; and though she had let her hair down from the decorative knot it had been tied in, she still wore her ornate wedding kimono.

Hanzo waited until the servant girl was gone before he spoke.

"You said it was urgent, Amaya-dono," he prodded her to start.

The girl just nodded.

Amaya was chewing her lip and her brow wrinkled with frustration, but because her back was turned him, Hanzo couldn't see.

"Well, why have you summoned me at this ungodly hour in this awful weather?" he clarified.

Amaya wanted to stammer an apology, but she didn't. She inhaled, then sighed the air out, silently, before speaking. "There are… some things I think you should know," she finally began.

Hanzo said nothing, just waited for her to continue.

"I killed Kunichiyo." She held her breath and waited for Hanzo's outburst. She swallowed hard when she heard no reaction, and barely resisted the urge to glance over her shoulder to read his expression. "And… I killed Ieyasu as well." She squinted her eyes shut against tears that wanted to spill out, waiting for Hanzo to say something.

Finally, he uttered a single word. "Why?"

Amaya choked on another breath, fighting to maintain her composure. She straightened to her full height, having realized she was bent over the window sill. Behind her back, her hands tightened their hold on each other. "To stop the Kouga and Iga from fighting."

Hanzo quirked up one eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Ieyasu was a fool. He should have just named an heir and been done with it. I thought if I killed Kunichiyo there would be no need for violence and the Pact could be reinstated."

Amaya's hands were trembling. That was the only outward sign of her nerves.

"Apparently, though, there was still bloodshed, and even after Kunichiyo was dead, Ieyasu made no move to reinstate the Pact." She cocked her head to one side, but still did not turn around. "I will tell you, I was more heart broken over what my choice to kill Kunichiyo resulted in than I was heart broken over the Pact's initial dissolution. That it why I killed Ieyasu and had myself named Shogun, so I could renew the No Hostilities Pact and forbid anymore violence."

She needed Hanzo to say something, to react somehow, but he did not, just stood in silence a dozen paces behind her.

"But, Hanzo-dono, I never considered the actual responsibilities of Shogun, nor did I realize the amount of danger I was putting my life in." For the first time since she had begun to speak, Hanzo could hear traces of Amaya's voice breaking. "Having done what I needed to accomplish, I ask that I be allowed to resign without incident."

Hanzo still said nothing, and that was the end of Amaya's control. She whipped around to face him, tears streaking down her cheeks and doing more damage to her already smudged makeup. Her lips were raw with abuse, and now that she was in better light, Hanzo could see that as much white paint speckled her hands as her face. She flung herself onto the floor at his feet, reduced to sobs.

"I cannot be Shogun any longer, I am sorry for all that I have done, but I cannot continue like this." She looked up at Hanzo with wide, pleading eyes. "Surely there is someone better for this position than me."

Hanzo looked down at her, gaze cold, face unreadable. Finally he spoke. "Do what you have to do, Amaya-dono." He turned to leave.

"Wha…what?...Hanzo!" She scrambled after him, reaching out to grab the hem of his kimono. "What should I do?" She managed to tangle a hand in the fabric.

Hanzo turned back to face Amaya. She was sprawled face down on the floor. "You got yourself this far, Amaya, I'm sure you can get yourself back out. I have done enough for you."

Amaya melted back into incoherent sobs. Hanzo was at the door, prepared to leave, when she managed to speak again. "Hanzo-dono?" she whispered. "Are you going to have me killed?"

He paused, considering the questing longer then was really necessary. "No."

"Are you going to tell Munenori-sama?"

"That would be the same as having you killed."

"Thank you, Hanzo-dono."

"Do not thank me, Amaya."

She was still lying on the floor when he left. Her Iga lover was less then five steps from the door. He doubtlessly heard the outburst inside, and the glare Hanzo received from the young ninja chilled him worse than the rain.

xxx

Koshirou let himself into Amaya's chambers and rushed to her side when he saw her so clumsily sprawled on the floor. She was half dragged into his lap before she spoke.

"I'm fine, Koshirou," she sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. She reached her arm up to wrap around his neck and snuggle herself closer. Her eyes drooped closed and she sighed. Koshirou rested a tentative hand on her waist, about to question if she was really alright. "I told him everything," she said before he could.

Koshirou started. "Everything?"

"Yeah. Everything."

"He could have you – "

"He's not, Koshirou."

"How do you – "

"Don't worry, Koshirou."

"Amaya – "

"Don't worry."

Koshirou resigned himself to silence. He glanced down at Amaya. She was dozing in his arms. "Koshirou?" she murmured sleepily after a few moments.

"Hmm?"

"Tomorrow night, we go to 'brother' Hidetada's."

Koshirou quirked an eyebrow up, but Amaya did not further elaborate.

xxx

Amaya was sitting on the floor, the mask Koshirou had worn before his eyes had been mended in one hand, and one of her throwing knives in the other. She glanced at the mask, then at Koshirou, then at the mask again, and then set her knife down. She hopped to her feet and went to retrieve her pen and ink well from the desk before sitting back down close enough to Koshirou that their knees touched. With both hands, she pressed the mask against Koshirou's face. He had obliged her this long, but now felt he had to ask.

"What are you doing?"

"Just wait," Amaya whined, reaching with one hand to pick up her pen. The mask fell away from Koshirou's face and hung limply from Amaya's other hand. She huffed, set the pen down, and resituated the mask. "Hold this for me, would you, Koshirou."

He rolled his eyes and sighed before doing so, but eventually, Koshirou lifted his own hands to hold the cloth in place.

"Thank you." Amaya bent to the side and dipped her pen in the ink well. "Now, stay…very…still." The long pauses between words indicating Amaya's intense concentration worried Koshirou. The worry was not without warning. Not even before she had finished speaking, Amaya had poked him in the eye with her pen.

Koshirou yelped and scrambled back. He heard the pen clatter to the floor, and then Amaya was in his face again, snarling curses and stammering apologies. Both her hands caught his face, and she ran a thumb under the threatened eye. "Are you okay?"

He sighed and shook his head as best he could since Amaya hadn't yet let him go. "I'm fine."

Amaya exhaled. "That's good."

"Just, warn me next time you're going to stick things in my eyes."

She nodded vigorously. "Of course, I'm so sorry."

He couldn't possibly stay irritated with her. "Now, what were you trying to do?"

Amaya was startled that he was going to let her continue. "Trace your eyes, so I can cut out holes."

Koshirou picked up the mask and replaced it against his face. With his first and second fingers, he indicated where his eyes were for Amaya. "Between my fingers. Go slow." Amaya nodded, even though he couldn't see her and scooted close enough to reach him. She delicately drew the outline of each of Koshirou's eyes.

"There," she pulled the mask away. "Thank you, Koshirou-dono." She leaned forward and kissed him softly.

Someone behind them squeaked.

Amaya looked over her shoulder. Eiko was standing in the door way, hands clasped tightly in front of her, staring at her feet, cheeks dusted an embarrassed shade of pink. "Forgive me, Amaya-dono, I was not aware you were with someone."

Amaya smiled. "It's fine, Eiko. You haven't interrupted anything."

"Oh…"

"Is there something you need?"

She shook her head. "No, I was just making sure _you_ were not in need of anything, Amaya-dono."

"Well…" Amaya began to carefully cut out the eyes with her knife. "Since you're here, I could use a favor."

"Of course, Amaya-dono."

Amaya finished cutting out the second eye. She handed the mask to Koshirou, who just stared at it, unsure exactly what to do. "Put it on," she told him.

"There," Amaya looked at Eiko once Koshirou had tied the mask on. "Isn't he frightening… looking…" she trailed.

Eiko cocked her head to one side and studied the masked ninja intently, then looked at Amaya, hoping to gauge what the right answer was from her face. Amaya looked to be equally confused. "Truthfully, Amaya-dono, he's not very scary at all. Rather, he's just… awkward…"

Amaya and Koshirou both frowned. "She's right, Koshirou, you're not very intimidating at all."

Koshirou, who had been unaware that he was supposed to be intimidating, didn't know what to tell them.

"You may take the mask off, koi. It looks like you're going to Hidetada's without it."

If Koshirou had known that was Amaya's intention, he could have settled this matter in much less time.

"Thank you, Eiko. You may leave now."

"You're welcome, Amaya-dono."

"So," Koshirou waited until Eiko was gone, "We're really going to Hidetada's tonight?"

Amaya nodded.

xxx

"Good afternoon," Amaya greeted her half brother with a smile when he invited her and Koshirou inside.

"The same to you, Shogun Amaya" he replied with equal amiability with a slight nod of his head. "And who is this?" he indicated Koshirou behind her.

"Chikuma Koshirou of the Iga ninja," she introduced, "A lady can't be too careful when she travels."

Hidetada smiled his understanding. "Well, I'm sure my dear sister couldn't be any safer."

The fake familiarity between them was so thick, Koshirou could have cut through it with a knife.

They followed Hidetada to a room with carpeted floor and walls lined with pillows, though in the center was a traditional low table, at which both Amaya and Koshirou sat on one side whilst Hidetada sat on the other. A servant bustled in with cups and a pot of tea, poured them each one, then hurried out.

"I know you did not travel far, but I assume your journey was pleasant?" Hidetada picked up his cup with both hands and blew off the steam.

"Pleasant as traveling can be in the heat of summer," Amaya agreed, taking a drink from her own tea without waiting for it to cool.

Hidetada sipped his tea before speaking again. "How was the wedding of Kouga Gennosuke and Iga Oboro?" he asked.

"As all weddings should be, happy and beautiful." Koshirou noticed that Amaya's eyes did not light up like they did when she recounted the wedding's beauty to anyone else.

"That is quite an accomplishment for a new Shogun, forging such a strong peace between such powerful clans of feuding ninja."

Amaya shrugged. "It was necessary."

Koshirou almost winced. He didn't like this Amaya.

"I'm sure both clans appreciate what you have done for them." Amaya was looking into her tea cup, but Koshirou saw the malice in Hidetada's eyes. He must have known what happened shortly after the Pact's reinstallation.

Amaya let out a little squeak. Her eyes got big and she dropped her cup. It was mostly empty, so only the dregs dribbled onto the table. She wasn't sure whether to apologize for the spill or answer Hidetada's question. She couldn't find a smug way to accomplish either.

Koshirou caught her hand under the table. "They appreciate it very much," he answered for her. "It is always good to know an era of bloodshed and hatred has come to an end." He narrowed his eyes at Hidetada, and his voice took on and edge that made the other the man want to cower.

Amaya watched the flicker of emotions on her half brother's face, and a grin split across her own. _That's right, I dare you to fuck with me_, she seemed to say.

Hidetada cleared his throat and poured himself another cup of tea. "Well, you have reinstated the Kouga / Iga No Hostilities Pact, what other big plans do you have, Shogun Amaya?"

Amaya leaned back against the nearest pillow. "Actually," she paused dramatically. "I feel my reign as Shogun is over. I plan to retire. Though it has been brought to my attention that I am supposed to name an heir first."

Again, Amaya wasn't looking at Hidetada when she spoke to him, but Koshirou watched the other man's eyes double in size as he leaned across the table, eager to hear what his half sister was going to say next.

"And who have you been considering for the Shogunate, Amaya-dono?"

"Well," Amaya shifted some on her pillow, "There is always Takechiyo."

She glanced at Hidetada for the first time, just so that she could watch his face fall, then turned her attention back to the corner of the ceiling. "But I won't be sticking around to watch him grow up, and I can't risk him becoming a tyrant like Ieyasu." She hummed thoughtfully. "I have to find someone I can be sure won't do something so stupid as uninstalling the No Hostilities Pact."

She locked her eyes with Hidetada's, and Koshirou heard the click of her unhooking a knife. "I was thinking about you, Hidetada." She revealed her knife in one fluid motion. "If only because I know I can bully you into doing as I say." Her smirk was wicked.

Hidetada lurched away from her, scrambling back against the pillows on the opposite wall. He opened his mouth to scream, but Koshirou was on top of him, hand clamped over his mouth. He thrashed in Koshirou's hold, even bit down on his hand. Koshirou winced and glared at Amaya, but did not release his captive. Hidetada squirmed until he felt the cold press of metal against his throat.

"Are you going to behave?" Amaya asked, lowering herself onto one knee beside him.

Hidetada nodded with as much force as he could with Koshirou's hand pressed over his mouth, and Amaya could hear his high pitched assurances even with Koshirou's palm to muffle them. Koshirou looked at Amaya, but said nothing, silently asking if she really thought she had this under control. Amaya nodded. He gingerly moved to the side and allowed Amaya to take his place.

Hidetada's breathing was ragged, and he had Koshirou's blood smeared around his mouth. "What… what's going on?" he stammered between gasps for air.

"I have every intention of naming you heir to the Tokugawa Shogunate, Hidetada, so there's no need to beg for that. I just need to be sure that you really won't be anything like your father." Koshirou watched Amaya shift her knife away from Hidetada's throat, then pick up his right hand with her free one. Hidetada's chest heaved with more force when Amaya pressed the blade to the underside of the first joint of his middle finger.

"No! Don't!" Hidetada had since figured out what was going on. "No! I swear, I'll never do anything… anything…" his words tumbled together into incoherent pleading. He tried to jerk his hand away, but Amaya held tight.

"Nuh uh, Hidetada, it doesn't work like that. I have to be sure." Her face contorted in preparation. "Koshirou!" Her head snapped up and she shook a wayward strand of hair out of her face. Amaya was flushed, and her own breathing was uneven, Koshirou noticed with unease. "Cover his mouth," she gasped out.

He didn't say anything. Just did as ordered.

"Of course, you understand," Amaya was applying more pressure with the knife, but not looking at digit she was severing. Instead, she locked her eyes with Hidetada's, "The most important thing you are swearing not to do is start a blood bath like pitting the Kouga and Iga against each other." She grunted, adding more force. Koshirou thought he heard her gag. "Got that? No blood baths." Even though she had sharpened her knives, Amaya had to struggle to saw through the bone.

Hidetada's screams were only quiet squeals behind Koshirou's hand.

By the time she was finished, Amaya was breathing so hard Koshirou was afraid she would pass out and strands of her hair were plastered to her head from sweat. Her hands were covered in blood, but she wiped them on the nearest pillow. "Now," she gasped at the still whimpering Hidetada, "You reign like a civilized, just, human being, or else – " She toyed with the knife. Hidetada moaned and tried to squirm away. Amaya dragged the tip all the way down his chest to his crotch. Hidetada's breathing started to pick up again. "I won't be cutting off fingers next time," she just managed to heave. Hidetada nodded furiously. Amaya had had an entire store of threats for the soon to be Shogun, but they were inconsequential next to castration, so Amaya dragged herself to her feet, feeling herself sway dangerously, but refusing Koshirou's offered arm. Koshirou and Amaya let themselves out.

They were less than a mile from Hidetada's home when Amaya tipped onto her hands and knees. Her stomach heaved, and she vomited up what little she had eaten. Koshirou squatted beside her, running a soothing hand up and down her back. "Are you okay?"

Amaya managed to nod, but couldn't speak. Her stomach lurched, and she gagged. She took several deep breaths before trying to truly answer him. "There was more blood… It took more – " Her voice cut off and she finished regurgitating her stomach's contents. She sat back on her heels, tilted her head back, and closed her eyes. She gasped one last deep breath before speaking again. "It took more effort than I thought it would," she admitted. "I forgot about the bone." She shook her head, then tilted it onto Koshirou's shoulder. He wrapped both arms around her and lifted her up. Amaya wanted to tell him she could walk, but she knew it would be a useless effort.

xxx

"You summoned me, Amaya-dono?" Eiko slipped into Amaya's chambers and stood patiently at her desk.

Amaya nodded. "I probably shouldn't be announcing this to you first." Amaya tilted her head to one side and smiled, "but I'm going to anyway. I'm retiring. It's a very long story, but in short, I've done what I came here to do. I do not, however, want you to stay maidservant to the next Shogun."

Eiko wasn't sure what to say, so she just waited for Amaya to continue.

"I'm reassigning you to Akane-san. You will be her assistant and apprentice. You know her yes?"

"The castle apothecary, right, Amaya-dono?"

Amaya nodded. "You've done a good job, Eiko, but you shouldn't have to deal with the asshole that's on his way." Amaya grinned again.

Eiko flushed, taking the compliment gracefully. "Thank you, Amaya-dono."

"You're most welcome. Now, you should be going. Hanzo-dono and Munenori-san will be here any moment, and I have a feeling the resignation conversation will not go so well with them."

Eiko bowed and left. She nearly collided with said two men on her way out.

"Good morning, Amaya-dono," Hanzo greeted. As per his usual, Munenori was silent. Amaya only nodded acknowledgement. "It was brought to my attention that you had something important you needed to speak to us about."

"Yes." Amaya leaned forward over the desk with her chin resting in both her palms. "I am going to resign as Shogun. I have named Hidetada my heir, as that seemed the most reasonable thing to do." She slid a neatly written document across the desk. "This is the official statement of such. If you need anything more from me, I need to know now, because I am leaving tomorrow with the Iga clan."

Hanzo stared dumbly at the parchment in front of him. He couldn't possibly comprehend why Amaya would choose Hidetada.

"You cannot leave tomorrow! There is procedure to follow, ceremonies," Munenori blurted.

Amaya shifted her head into the hand nearest Munenori. "Have I ever given a damn about ceremony?"

Munenori's jaw dropped in an expression Amaya was becoming familiar with. She waited for him to give a convincing argument for her to stay, and when he did not, she turned her attention back to Hanzo.

"Do you have any reasons why I should not leave with the Iga? Or anything else to make my retirement more official?"

Hanzo shook his head. "Not at all, Shogun Amaya."

She nodded. "Good, then you both may leave. I have packing that needs to be done."

They both stood to leave, but Hanzo stayed in the doorway after Munenori had gone. "Why Hidetada?" he asked when he was sure the swords master was out of ear shot.

Amaya had thought he was gone, and her head snapped up when she heard his voice. "What?"

"Why Hidetada?" Hanzo repeated.

"Don't worry, Hanzo-dono, he will be nothing like Ieyasu. I have made sure." She locked her eyes with his. "Trust me."

There was little else he could do.

xxx

Akane was startled when she heard someone let themselves into her store room without knocking. She whipped around, and her surprise was only increased when she saw Amaya. "Amaya," she greeted, too shocked to be formal. She hadn't seen the girl since the incidents involving Tenzen.

"Akane," she greeted in kind.

"Can I help you?" the apothecary offered.

Amaya shook her head. "I just came to say goodbye. I'm leaving tomorrow with Koshirou."

"Oh." Akane pretended to be studying a plant while she thought of something to say. "Travel safely. Best of luck."

"I'm leaving you a new apprentice. Her name is Eiko. I couldn't leave her in the hands of Hidetada. Treat her nicer than you treated me."

"Of course."

Pause.

"I'm not going to give up studying plants. I'm sure there are apothecaries in Tsubagakure."

"That's good."

Pause.

"Akane… Mom… I know we never got along that great, but I wanted to thank you before I left. I don't know for what exactly… but just… thanks." Amaya turned to leave.

"You're welcome."

Amaya paused in the door way, hearing such unfamiliar words, then continued on her way.

xxx

Amaya left the next day like she said she would with the Iga ninja. Their departure was without incident or celebration. Hanzo was certain he was the only person to watch her go. Amaya walked away from castle Sunpu without ever turning back. He could only assume she went on to live a happy life in Tsubagakure because he never heard from her again. He supposed Akane might know of her goings about, but it seemed awkward to ask her.

xxx

Amaya would go down in the history books of the Tokugawa Shogunate as a footnote – briefest reigning and only female Shogun – but in the scrolls of the Kouga and Iga clans, she would forever remain a legend.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading, especially the few people who stuck it out waiting for this last chapter.

Credits: I am ashamed to say that there should most definitely be a works cited attached to this piece, but since the laptop I wrote the first seven chapters on died, I have lost the list of websites. I really have to thank the two plant websites where I got the information for my medicines and poisons. Yes, if I gave it a specific name, it actually exists and is used for what it is used for here. Pretty cool, huh? I also used a Japanese name site that I can't find anymore, as well as at least a half dozen Japanese furniture and clothing websites. Even though I don't know your names, thank you all!

Misc Notes: I know someone mentioned the title being a play on the butterfly effect phenomenon (a butterfly flaps its wings in one place and there's a tidal wave half way around the world). Of course it is. Hotarubi is a variation on the Japanese name Hotaru, which means firefly. After Kunichiyo's death, hers was the most important of the piece, so I gave her the title. Amaya means night rain, which is why all the chapter titles are kinds of rain. They even sort of apply to chapter content, but you have to squint.

And that is really all I have to say. Thank you. Goodbye and Goodnight.

Der Traumer


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